Shropshire baby death scandal: Senior NHS maternity & neonatal staff to receive ‘leadership training’
- 12.01.2021
- JessicaMG
- Clinical-negligence
Senior NHS maternity and neonatal staff across the country will be given ‘leadership training’ in order to address the findings of the inquiry into the Shropshire baby deaths scandal.
A total of 700 staff from 126 trusts and 44 local maternity units will be trained under a programme designed to tackle the “disconnect between ward and board”.
The £500,000 project is set to launch later in 2021 and comes amid a probe, led by Donna Ockenden, into the maternity care of over 1,800 families in Shropshire.
Interim findings of the Ockenden Review were published at the end of 2020 and included key issues surrounding leadership, such as the need to escalate staff concerns and apply lessons from serious incidents. The report into failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust called for called for seven "essential actions" to be implemented at maternity units across England. These essential actions have since been transformed into 12 clinical tasks and include giving women with complex pregnancies a named consultant and developing a proper process to gather the views of families.
The full report on the results of the Ockenden Review has been pushed back due to its expanded scope.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced the training and said in addition to forging stronger links between frontline staff and board members, the programme was also set to create greater collaborative working between doctors, nurses, obstetricians and midwives. A new core curriculum for professionals working in maternity and neonatal services is being developed will run alongside the training, the DHSC added.
Patient safety minister Nadine Dorries said she wanted the training to "empower" staff to "get the best out of their teams, and deliver safe, world class care to mothers and their babies".