Campaigners react to damning report on Nottingham maternity care failures

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  • Post last modified:26 June 2026

Charities and campaigning organisations have reacted with sadness and a damning lack of surprise to the findings of the Ockenden Report, which detailed extensive failings in maternity and neonatal care under Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust. The review’s leader, independent senior midwife Donna Ockenden, included a detailed 18-point framework of ‘Immediate and Essential Actions’ for improvement, both nationally and in Nottingham. A single overarching principle — ‘Martha’s Rule’ — underpinned every recommendation. NHS England explained that: Martha’s Rule is a patient safety initiative to support the early detection of deterioration by ensuring the concerns of patients, families, carers and staff…

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Report into failures on Nottingham maternity wards highlights fatal impact of racism

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  • Post last modified:25 June 2026

Racism — Yesterday, 24 June, the Canary reported on the publication of the damning Ockenden report. It detailed extensive failures in maternity and neonatal care under Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS trust. In particular, the report highlighted staff’s refusal to listen to patients’ concerns. The failure was even more prominent for global majority patients, along with those from other marginalised backgrounds. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at those issues, including the patients’ own accounts of their experiences. We should also note that the report took measures to ensure that it included the perspectives of people from marginalised and disadvantaged…

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New report details long-standing systematic failures in Nottingham’s maternity care

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  • Post last modified:24 June 2026

On 24 June, independent senior midwife Donna Ockenden published her long-awaited review of failures in maternity care under Nottingham university hospitals (NUH) NHS trust. The report identified: long-standing and deeply embedded systemic failures across multiple areas of maternity and neonatal care. Then-health secretary Sajid Javid first commissioned the review after eight families came forward with accounts of the harm and loss they suffered. However, by the time the review closed in May 2025, almost 2,500 families had taken part. For the most part, their experiences covered just over 3 years, beginning in 2012. Likewise, over 800 members of NUH staff contacted…

Continue ReadingNew report details long-standing systematic failures in Nottingham’s maternity care