Detectives consider corporate manslaughter charge in NHS maternity scandal involving 200 families
Detectives are examining a series of baby deaths at a troubled NHS trust as the number of cases being investigated by an independent inquiry nears 200 – making it one of the worst maternity scandals in NHS history.
The Independent has learned officers in the serious crime directorate at Kent Police are looking at unsafe maternity care at the East Kent Hospitals University Trust and have held a series of high-level meetings, including with the Crown Prosecution Service.
The discussions are believed to centre on the possibility of opening a criminal investigation and bringing charges related to corporate manslaughter and/or gross negligence manslaughter.
If this goes ahead, it would be only the second time an NHS trust had faced a corporate manslaughter charge.
Today, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was “deeply concerned” about the new revelations and added that this latest scandal showed “deep-seated cultural and systemic issues” in maternity care.
Source: The Independent, 24 May 2021