A highly critical report from NHS watchdog, the Care Quality Commission has confirmed fears from whistleblowers, including obstetrician Dr Martyn Pitman, that mothers were at risk using Hampshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s maternity services in Winchester and Basingstoke.

The report was not raised during the two week employment tribunal hearing as I gather it came out too late to be included in the evidence. But it followed a visit by the CQC to the trust last year resulting in a report which highlighted a slew of concerns about the service.

The report has been taken up by Helen Hammond, a lawyer based in Basingstoke and Reading, who specialises in clinical negligence in maternity care, working for the international law firm, Pennington, Manches, Cooper. In a blog on its site she catalogues the damning findings of the report from staff shortages to injuries facing women giving birth. You can read her full blog here.

The health trust has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer’s money on expensive lawyers from Old Square Chambers to deny that Dr Pitman was a whistleblower concerned about patient care denigrating him at one stage -until subsequently withdrawn- as “a freelance agitator”. They produced evidence claiming he made a midwifery manager, who never gave any oral evidence to the tribunal herself, that he made her cry. Top officials of the trust including the former chief medical officer, Lara Alloway, chief executive, Alex Whitfield, and trust chairman, Steve Erskine, gave evidence against him.

Now the CQC report says that in 2022 there was a lack of midwifery staff to provide safe delivery of births; two day delays of inducing births, staff missing training because they had to fill in for staff shortages and senior midwifery staff not creating a culture that supported individuals. In Basingstoke there were cases of staff not spotting mothers deteriorating in the wards, and of a much higher level of serious maternity tears – caused by forceps delivery -than the national average. Staff at Basingstoke said they were asked to perform tasks they did not feel competent to do.

The service also delivered a much higher proportion of babies in poor health than the national average.

Helen Hammond says in her blog: “One frustrating aspect of the CQC report, which reflects our experience of representing local families whose babies have either died or developed brain injuries due to the management of their birth, is the failure to learn from previous incidents to prevent them reoccurring. Many families we have worked with have expressed a desire for the harm they or their child have suffered to lead to safer care for those who follow them. Acting on the findings of the report to make this the case would create a lasting legacy.”

The health trust said yesterday :

Our first priority is always our patients and it is vital we provide expectant parents with confidence in our care.

Following the 2022 CQC report, our maternity division is now fully staffed, and a number of policies and procedures are in place to remedy areas highlighted so that we address – among others – equipment concerns, communication issues, and training.

With that in mind, you have asked for a series of figures which we are concerned will be presented without appropriate clinical context, something that may cause undue alarm.

We ask that any expectant parents who may have concerns about the areas you have highlighted raise them directly with their midwives or obstetricians so that they can be given proper, medical advice and guidance. “

It is interesting that the trust would not provide me with current facts and figures on issues of maternity tears, babies born in poor health, or induction waiting times. I am sure that the CQC who normally revisit a trust to see if its services have improved, will look into this again and it will become public. It does rather fit in with the defensive attitude and lack of transparency from top officials at the trust during the tribunal.

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