The Ockenden Review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is the largest independent inquiry of its kind in NHS history. The team, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, is expected to publish its findings in June 2026.

Rachel Kirby, Senior Associate in Geldard’s medical negligence team, takes a look at what progress has been made to date and what we can expect now.

What is the Ockenden Review?

In 2022, Donna Ockenden, a respected senior midwife, was asked to chair an independent maternity services review looking into alleged failings at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.

The inquiry came about after significant concerns were raised about the quality and safety of maternity services at Nottingham City Hospital and Queens Medical Centre (QMC), which are both run by the Trust. Many of these concerns were raised by local families who had been affected.

Donna Ockenden is leading an independent team of experienced doctors and midwives to review cases of concern at the Trust, including failings in the care of both mothers and babies. Their findings and recommendations for improvement will form what has become known as the ‘Ockenden Report’ or ‘Ockenden Review’.

The Ockenden Review is the largest of its kind in NHS history and is already being tipped to be a disturbing and damning insight into care at the two maternity units.

What is the latest news from the Ockenden Review?

Donna Ockenden closed the window for new cases to be included at the end of May 2025 and the team are now carefully examining 2,500 cases of neonatal deaths, stillbirth and harm to mothers and babies.

Several cases that are being reviewed have already come to light in the media, offering a shocking and disturbing insight into the nature of the failings, which go back as far as 2006, including stillbirths, neonatal deaths, brain damage, severe maternal harm and maternal death

A Freedom of Information Act by Nottinghamshire Live in November 2024 reportedly revealed that 302 cases of brain injuries to babies, 582 cases of severe maternal harm and 657 cases of baby and maternal deaths had already been identified at the time. The data showed that the highest number of incidents happened in 2013 with 165 reported. A total of 140 incidents were recorded as recently as 2021.

Sarah and Jack Hawkins have been leading the families’ campaign for justice following the death of their daughter Harriet at Nottingham City Hospital in 2016. Harriet was stillborn after a mismanaged labour and a catalogue of serious failings by the hospital. The Trust blamed her death on an infection, but an investigation requested by the bereaved couple uncovered the truth.

Another high-profile case was that of Sarah Andrews and her baby Wynter. Wynter died at QMC shortly after her birth in 2019 after many failings in her care, as well as the care of her mother Sarah including from pregnancy right up until birth.

According to Donna Ockenden, the review team are repeatedly hearing stories of cover-ups to hide failings, staff shortages and problems with staff training and skill sets.

Unfortunately, even during the time of active cases, serious allegations were still being made against the Trust, including reports of bullying, discrimination, racism and a continuing cover-up culture.

An inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) also found “insufficient” levels of staffing and rated the Trust’s maternity services as “inadequate”.

In 2025, Ockenden has said that, while she feels that some lessons are being learnt and improvements are being made, it is at much slower pace than she would like and progress needs to be faster.

What can we expect now?

While the window for new cases has now closed, investigations are still ongoing. Donna Ockenden and her team are carefully examining each of the 2,500 cases that are part of the review and will publish their findings in June 2026. It is expected to be a damning insight into the failings in care that babies and mothers experienced.

Nottinghamshire Police announced in June 2025 that they were opening a corporate manslaughter investigation, known as Operation Perth, against the Trust to investigate whether the maternity care provided was grossly negligent.

In a statement on the force’s website, Det Supt Matthew Croome said: “The offence relates to circumstances where an organisation has been grossly negligent in the management of its activities, which has then led to a person’s death.

“In such an investigation we are looking to see if the overall responsibility lies with the organisation rather than specific individuals and my investigation will look to ascertain if there is evidence that the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has committed this offence.”

If you have been affected by maternity care failings at NUH, or any other NHS hospital or private medical facility in the UK, our experienced and caring medical negligence team may be to help you to get the answers you need and the compensation you are entitled to.

Call us on 02920 391773 or email medicalnegilence@geldards.com