Maternity unit parents call on Health Secretary to intervene after private consultant accuses them of lying

Martin Shipton

Parents campaigning for improvements at a failing maternity unit have urged Cabinet Secretary for Health Jeremy Miles to intervene after a private consultant hired by the health board responsible for the unit accused them of spreading misinformation.

In September 2023 a Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) inspection report concluded that the safety and wellbeing of mothers and babies could not be guaranteed at the Singleton Hospital unit in Swansea.

The Welsh Government has refused to hold a public inquiry into concerns about the unit. Instead a review has been commissioned by Swansea Bay University Health Board, which presided over the unit’s failings.

Parents led by Rob and Sian Channon, whose five-year-old son Gethin suffered serious brain damage at birth because of medical negligence at the unit, have walked away from the review, saying they have no confidence in it, and have announced that what they call a genuinely independent review will now take place.

Briefing document

Earlier this week a briefing document written by Kate Jury, the managing partner of Niche Health and Social Care Consulting, was distributed to journalists and others, including local MPs and MSs. The document suggests that parents have created a distorted narrative in order to discredit efforts to understand what went wrong at the maternity unit.

In the document Ms Jury, who is among those commissioned by Swansea Bay University Health Board to review the running of the unit, wrote: “This review has, in the last few months, been subject to a targeted campaign of misinformation from a range of communication sources, in the press and on social media. This has included harmful allegations, some of which have been personal in nature, involving in some cases, very concerning content. “This campaign has sought to polarise debate and undermine public confidence in the review in all aspects, in its current form.”

Describing what she sees as a “coordinated campaign of misinformation”, Ms Jury states: “There are generally five key themes associated with the coordinated campaign against this review, they include: a) referring to the review as a ‘sham’ and a ‘scam’ on a repetitive basis on social media and in the press; b) directly attacking the independence of the review on social media and in the press; c) saying that the review is ‘ignoring families’ and also ‘excluding families’; d) saying that the review is causing distress to the families who are involved in the ‘scandal’ and; e) saying that the review has not achieved anything so far, and therefore, should be ‘scrapped’.”

‘Diminish’

Ms Jury states: “No basis in evidence or reasonable opinion has been provided for these allegations other than to install repetition of the words ‘sham’ and ‘scam’ on a consistent basis within the press and on social media. This approach is being used to diminish the review within the minds of the freethinking public.”

Parents at the forefront of what they see as a campaign for justice say they are upset and outraged by Ms Jury’s comments.

In a letter to Mr Miles, Mr and Mrs Channon, together with 34 other members of the Swansea Bay Maternity Support Group, state: “We wanted to share with you as Health Minister and as a local MS in the Swansea Bay University Health Board area, a distressing development in the maternity scandal in Swansea Bay.

“You may have been briefed by Welsh Government officials on [Nation Cymru’s latest story on the matter]:

“As you may know we have been campaigning on the serious issues which plagued the maternity service in Swansea Bay for a number of years. A campaign which has been vindicated by damning HIW and HEIW [Health Education and Improvement Wales] reports in the past 12 months.

“Since December we have been fighting for an independent, family-centred review of Swansea maternity. The review lost credibility months ago and has been heavily criticised by [leading maternity campaigner] Donna Ockenden.

“This week we have announced a ‘family led’ review of the maternity services after a complete collapse of trust in the health board-led review. This is fully supported by Donna Ockenden and Jack Hawkins (lead campaigner from the Nottingham maternity scandal).

“[On Tuesday] we were given a copy of a briefing note from Niche Consulting, who are involved in the health board review. You will appreciate the distress this document has caused us. It was written while we were in hospital caring for our son Gethin after worrying seizures.

Misleading

The letter continues:“This briefing note attacks us and accuses us of misleading people and spreading false information. It is designed to undermine us and our efforts for a fully independent and family-centred review. We believe this document is misleading itself from top to bottom.

“Crucially metadata contained in the briefing note contains the name of the author, Kate Jury. This individual is actually an expert on the review, having been appointed by the health board. To have a review expert openly attacking families is incredible.

“The role of Kate Jury and Niche Consulting in the review is now untenable. The review itself needs to be scrapped and started again, fully free and independent from the health board, Niche Consulting and any other parties currently involved.

“We ask you to urgently intervene in this dreadful situation and work with families to commission a new independent review. The seriousness of the situation demands an urgent intervention and response.”

The Welsh Government has been asked to respond.