201 babies and nine mothers ‘could have survived’ UK’s biggest maternity scandal

Donna Ockenden, chair of the Independent Review into Maternity Services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, presents the final report (Jacob King/PA)

Some 201 babies and nine mothers could have – or would have – survived if an NHS trust had provided better care, an independent inquiry into the UK’s biggest maternity scandal has found.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust presided over catastrophic failings for 20 years – and did not learn from its own inadequate investigations – which led to babies being stillborn, dying shortly after birth or being left severely brain damaged.