NHS report told of maternity problems before inquiry

NHS report told of maternity problems before inquiry1 hour agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleRob SissonsEast Midlands health correspondentPA MediaNottingham City Hospital, where workplace culture was scrutinised in the months before Harriet Hawkins's deathA previously unpublished report has detailed serious concerns about workload, staffing and culture within Nottingham's troubled maternity services.The review of the maternity unit at Nottingham City Hospital - seen by the BBC - was dated days before baby Harriet Hawkins was stillborn in 2016 - a landmark case that eventually led to the largest review of maternity failings in the NHS.Donna Ockenden, who is leading the review of Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust - which runs City Hospital - said: "There were many concerns that were known about when Harriet Hawkins lost her life."She will publish her findings on 24 June after overseeing the review into baby deaths at NUH.The previously unpublished workplace report is historic, but raises questions about whether warning signs around staffing pressures and culture were acted on sufficiently.The external review - carried out by a workplace psychologist between December 2015 and March 2016, and dated 30 March 2016 - praised the "remarkable" commitment of staff, but also highlighted concerns around workload, inappropriate behaviour and wider issues with workplace culture.A total of 49 members of staff, including doctors and midwives, were interviewed and quoted in the report anonymously.The review was instigated after letters to staff at the maternity unit, as well as "unusual actions" on the unit during a visit by healthcare inspectors. This included an empty can of energy drink left in the middle of the floor of a clean delivery room - as well as butter "smeared around the top of a birthing pool". The report also cited feedback from Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors, highlighting "some concer...