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Mothers at centre of failing maternity unit scandal say their concerns have been brushed aside

30 Jul 2024 6 minute read
Maternity Unit Singleton Hospital. Image via Google

Martin Shipton

Mothers campaigning for improvements at a failing hospital maternity unit say their concerns have been brushed aside by those appointed to lead a review.

And they say they have been told those in charge of the review won’t communicate with them in writing because they fear correspondence will be leaked to Nation.Cymru.

Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) concluded in September 2023 that the safety and wellbeing of mothers and babies could not be guaranteed at the unit in Swansea’s Singleton Hospital. Monitoring of the unit was subsequently intensified.

The Welsh Government has refused to order an independent public inquiry into the failings, although Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB) has commissioned a review.

Justice

Sian Channon, whose five-year-old son Gethin suffered a catastrophic brain injury at birth because of negligence in the unit, is a spokeswoman for a parents’ group that is seeking justice.

She said: “It is truly astonishing that the review is being run by individuals who refuse to answer directly to emails. The review languished under abysmal and absent leadership for eight months. Most importantly the leadership has been entirely dependent on the direction of Swansea Bay University Health Board, the entity that they are reviewing.

“Families met with them four weeks ago and nothing that was promised has been achieved. No communication has taken place and we are left wondering why the charade has not been stopped by the Welsh Government. We are truly disheartened and disappointed that families are still fighting for justice in Swansea despite repeatedly asking Eluned Morgan to step in when she was Health Minister.

“It is inexcusable that this facade of independence has been allowed to continue, to cost taxpayers money and to put the lives and wellbeing of mothers and babies at continued risk.”

Another mother whose baby was born in the maternity unit, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “How the Interim Chair and Engagement Lead have treated us in recent weeks, has hit harder than the constant insults from SBUHB. We met with them and trusted them with information on how we had been treated by SBUHB while in their care and after. They seemed to share our concerns and sympathise with our experience.

“I can’t say we walked away with trust as that’s impossible after everything we have endured, but we were certainly hopeful.

“It is now evident that they have no independence from SBUHB as they will refuse to put anything in writing to us. They will not update us on any of the requests they promised they would take forward. Even basic things like feeding back on the terms of reference have been ignored.

“As families who have suffered harm and mental health impacts, the easier thing would be to walk away from all of this but we won’t because of the risk of harm to babies and families that remains.

“It breaks my heart that this priority is not shared by others and the babies and families are being lost in SBUHB attempts to exonerate themselves.”

NHS Source

The mothers said they had been told by an NHS source that the Interim Chair and the Engagement Lead of the stalled review into the scandal were not communicating with them because of concern that they would leak material to Nation.Cymru.

Interim Chair of the review Dr Denise Chaffer responded: “The Independent Review is committed to working closely with families throughout the External Independent Review of Maternity and Neonatal Services.

“The families the Interim Chair of the Oversight Panel and The Engagement Lead met with in Swansea on July 3 have received written feedback from that meeting, as well as offers of follow-up meetings to discuss the review as it progresses. We offer our sincere apologies for any delay in the families receiving the feedback from the meeting.

“Our Engagement Lead is also establishing a wider family and community voices group to work alongside the independent review panel. If you are a family member or part of a community group and you are interested in hearing more about this, please email [email protected].”

Mrs Channon responded: “They won’t email us directly so emails haven’t been forwarded to us. They refuse to respond to our emails. The concerns we raised in the meeting have largely been ignored so nothing of note has been achieved in the last month

“Follow up meetings are pointless since we have been ignored and have no time to be ignored again as this interrupts our work and home life and caring responsibilities which we have explained.”

Heartbreaking

Dr Dewi Evans, a former head of the maternity unit, said: “The maternity problems in Swansea are heartbreaking for me, having been a consultant paediatrician in Swansea for 30 years. We had built an excellent unit at Singleton Hospital over a couple of decades.

“This type of problem will be ever present as long as health boards are in charge of conducting their own investigations, and therefore able to select who conducts any inquiry. They are ‘marking their own homework’. No independently minded professional would be allowed near any inquiry.

“The public has no direct access to any organisation who can act on their behalf. The Welsh Government abolished Community Health Councils [CHCs] a year or so ago – an idiotic and regressive decision. (Its replacement, LLAIS, has a different role). Legal aid was abolished by the Conservative government [legal matters are not devolved].

“I believe all of our political parties need to make a manifesto commitment for the next Senedd election that health board chairs are elected democratically – the election could be carried out at the same time as local authority elections.

“More crucially, I believe we need to re-establish CHCs, also elected democratically – again at the same time as local authority elections. The previous CHCs had a role, but their membership had to be ratified by the Health Secretary – so full of poodles, ‘medal collectors’ [‘I’m on the Committee, see’ (Labour in Wales naturally, Tories in England)].

“So let’s elect CHC members and give them the authority to conduct genuine independent investigations whenever there are concerns regarding the quality of health care within their area.

“Currently two thirds of maternity services in England are deemed to be of an unacceptable standard. Health care in Wales is equally concerning – and the new First Minister has been Health Minister for three years, with little or no record of improving any aspect of the service.

“So let’s start by empowering those people who need the service, ie the general public. We are the ones who pay for it after all. We need to abandon the policy of empowering those in control – the ‘management’. That’s a system more suited to authoritarian regimes and dictatorships.

“Current NHS management appear to be a law unto themselves, accountable to their political masters and not to the patients whose lives depend on the quality of care within our NHS. That has to change.”


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R Jones
R Jones
3 months ago

Bravo Dr Dewi Evans.

Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
3 months ago

First Minister Baroness Bumble, this is a sick joke…

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