Maternity care inquiry expands to almost 1200 cases

An inquiry into childbirth cases of “serious and potentially serious concern” at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust has expanded to 1170 cases, putting it on course to be one of the biggest healthcare scandals in NHS history.

The review, chaired by Donna Ockenden, a midwife, was set up by the former health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2017. An interim report on about 250 cases concluded that at least 42 babies and three mothers may have died avoidably and that more than 50 newborns may have …