Jonathan Davies

Nottingham University hospitals NHS trust is one of the trusts that serves my constituents. For those who have been patients there, or who have had babies who have come to harm—I have met some of them—Donna Ockenden’s report is difficult reading indeed. In respect of the staff at that trust, many of them, often junior and low-paid, are on the frontline providing kind, compassionate, person-centred care, and they will be feeling raw today. We value what they do. We have heard a great deal about the appalling practices in the mortuary. They are subject to a criminal investigation, but I want to reflect on the experience of one of the several constituents I have met who have been affected by what we are discussing today. She came to see me as part of Donna Ockenden’s inquiry, and sadly she had engaged with the trust on a number of occasions because she felt that she was experiencing complications with her pregnancy. She was told to lie down and have a fizzy drink and then have an early night, and, despite repeated calls, she was repeatedly fobbed off. Sadly, her baby died. Behind that is a culture of a failure to engage. There was a very poor culture at the trust—so poor that “FOH” was written in patients’ medical notes and on whiteboards, standing for “F*** Off Home”. How could leaders not be more curious about the practices that were taking place on their watch, and where were the regulators? It is absolutely staggering. We are making some very positive changes in the NHS, but I want to push the Secretary of State briefly on changes we are making to the mechanisms that allow people to feed back on their care. We are winding down the National Guardian’s Office and Healthwatch; we are also removing NHS England, which has a regulatory function—and we know that regulators have failed in the case of this trust. What steps can my right hon. Friend take to ensure that those feedback mechanisms will enable people to be heard and action to be taken, so that we can prevent this kind of scandal from happening again?