Bereaved parents called 'compo seekers' at NUH

MEMBERS of staff at Nottingham hospitals reportedly described bereaved parents as “compo seekers” for joining an ongoing maternity review.

- By LAUREN MONAGHAN and JOEL MOORE

Families said they were “horrified” but not surprised by the alleged comments, which they say were made by senior staff members at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH).

The trust, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, is currently subject to the largest maternity review in NHS history, with 2,425 cases being examined by expert midwife Donna Ockenden.

The alleged comments were raised during NUH’s annual public meeting yesterday by chief executive Antony May, who described them as “totally, utterly unacceptable”.

In an email to staff sent before the meeting, he said he was aware of families being “stigmatised and/or gaslighted” and criticised for joining the review “on the basis that they are somehow causing trouble”.

He said he was told that Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose baby Harriet died due to failures at City Hospital in 2016, claimed they had also been accused of “grooming” other affected families into joining the review and campaigning for improvements.

“We were horrified and somewhat not surprised,” said Mr Hawkins.

“It's senior people telling a junior person. We were pretty hurt.”