Nottingham maternity review set to lay bare a decade of failings affecting thousands

A major independent review into maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is expected to set out serious and longstanding failings that affected thousands of families over more than a decade.

Led by the senior midwife Donna Ockenden and due to be published on 24 June, the review has been described in advance as the largest maternity investigation in NHS history. It examines cases from 2012 to 2025, including the deaths of mothers and babies, stillbirths and life-changing injuries.

For the bereaved and the injured, publication is likely to be a profoundly painful moment. Many of those involved have campaigned for years to have their experiences formally acknowledged, and they will be reading the findings as a record of what happened to their own families.

The scale of the inquiry

More than 2,500 families, along with hundreds of current and former staff, contributed evidence to the review. Reporting ahead of publication suggests it will scrutinise unsafe clinical practice, leadership failures and a workplace culture in which families say their concerns were too readily dismissed.

The review is expected to draw on a range of evidence in building its account of what went wrong:

• Testimony from more than 2,500 affected families
• Accounts from hundreds of current and former members of staff
• Cases spanning 2012 to 2025, including deaths, stillbirths and serious injuries
• Examination of clinical practice, leadership, culture and how concerns were handled

Why it matters beyond Nottingham

The findings are expected to intensify pressure on the NHS, regulators and ministers, not least because Nottingham follows earlier maternity scandals that also produced national recommendations. Families have repeatedly argued that those lessons must be enforced rather than simply restated.

The trust says its services have improved, but inspectors have continued to rate some areas as requiring improvement, and professional regulators are examining the conduct of a number of staff.

The questions still unanswered

The report's importance lies not only in the number of cases but in the recurring question it poses for maternity care across England: why have such similar warnings surfaced again and again, and why have families so often had to fight for recognition only after harm has occurred?

Campaigners hope the review will mark a turning point, but only if its recommendations translate into measurable, lasting change rather than another set of pledges. The coming days are likely to test whether the system can move from acknowledging failure to preventing it.