Staff warned of ‘harrowing’ care standards review

Trust staff have been warned that an independent investigation into maternity services will be ‘a harrowing read’ with a ‘profound and significant impact’.

The report into services at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust between 2009 and 2020 had been expected to be published on Wednesday 21 September. However, this morning families involved in the investigation received an email saying publication would be postponed to an unknown date in October..  

Next Wednesday, when the report was expected to be released and a statement made to Parliament, has been set aside for all MPs to take an oath of allegiance to King Charles III. 

An email sent to staff at East Kent last week and seen by HSJ said publication would place “significant focus on the trust and all of our services”, and that the trust would make support available to staff as well as former, current and potential patients. The trust will not see the report before publication.

The investigation – led by Dr Bill Kirkup, who also led the Morecambe Bay maternity investigation – was prompted by the death of week-old Harry Richford after a traumatic birth at the trust’s Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Hospital in Thanet in 2017. Around 200 families are thought to have contacted the investigation team with concerns around maternity care.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 15 September 2022