The Ockenden Report
A message from our Directory of Midwifery, Heidi Beddall and Chief Nurse, Karen Bonner
The Ockenden Report was commissioned following a review at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in response to a letter from bereaved families, raising concerns where babies and mothers died or potentially suffered significant harm whilst receiving maternity care at the hospital.
In the interim report published in December 2020, seven immediate and essential actions were set out for Trust maternity services. Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has implemented all of the actions highlighted in this report.
The final Ockenden report was published on the 30 March 2022 and outlines recommendations which all maternity services across the country should look to implement as soon as possible.
We would like to offer our sincere condolences to the families that have been affected and to thank them for their strength and tenacity for speaking out. It is a reminder to all NHS organisations of the importance of creating an open and honest learning culture where we listen to our patients, and colleagues, and learn lessons when things go wrong.
We, at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, are committed to ensuring the safety of all our patients and colleagues. We will look in-depth at what lessons we can learn from the Ockenden Report, not just for our maternity services but for the Trust as a whole and will look to implement these as a matter of priority.
Heidi Beddall, Karen Bonner,
Director of Midwifery Chief Nurse