NORTH Shropshire MP has said the report into baby deaths in the county "must be a turning point for maternity services."
Just hours after the long-awaited Ockenden report was published on Wednesday (March 30), Helen Morgan told the House of Commons that the scandal can "never be allowed to happen again."
The damning review, led by maternity expert Donna Ockenden, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust presided over catastrophic failings for 20 years – and did not learn from its own inadequate investigations – which led to babies being stillborn, dying shortly after birth or being left severely brain damaged.
Ms Morgan said: “I’m sure the Secretary of State can agree with me that this can never be allowed to happen again, and that the deaths of these 201 babies must not be in vain. This must be a turning point for maternity services in England.”
She described a recommendation of an immediate investment of £200-£350 million a year, and asked if Sajid Javid will be able to commit the additional resources recommended.
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The Health Secretary replied: “Her constituents and those throughout Shropshire, Telford and the Wrekin will be safer as a result of those brave families that are coming forward and this report and indeed families across England.
“When it comes to resources, the honourable lady will have heard me talk about the £95 million that was given at the time of the interim report, plus another £127 million given in the last few days for maternity services, and we will keep that under review.”
The independent inquiry also revealed several mothers died after failings in care, while others were made to have natural births despite the fact they should have been offered a Caesarean.
It examined cases involving 1,486 families between 2000 and 2019, and reviewed 1,592 clinical incidents.
It is the largest-ever inquiry into a single service in the history of the health service and has wide-ranging implications for the maternity in the NHS.
The inquiry was ordered by Tory MP Jeremy Hunt in 2017 when he was health secretary.
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