19 June 2025

West Mercia Police has confirmed that it will begin interviewing current and former staff at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust as witnesses in relation to their ongoing investigation, Operation Lincoln, which was launched in 2020.

Further details can be found by following this link: Public Portal

Jo Williams, Chief Executive for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “We are truly sorry for the harm caused to those families who rightfully expected a safe experience under our care, and who were let down by us.

“We know how important it is for the families and our communities to receive the answers they have waited for. We are fully cooperating with the police to support the integrity of their investigation.

“We are committed to providing a responsive maternity service for our communities and our staff that is open, kind, constantly learning and consistently improving.”

Further information for current service users

Our maternity services remain fully open during the ongoing police investigation. Our teams are committed to providing the safest and best experience possible and we want to reassure women and their families they should not notice any disruption to their care during this time.

If you have any concerns or questions about your care, please speak to your midwife or consultant.

You can also contact our Patient and Advice Liaison Service (PALS):

  • Royal Shrewsbury Hospital: 01743 261691
  • Princess Royal Hospital: 01952 282888
  • Or email: sath.pals@nhs.net

Improvements at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust following The Independent Review of Maternity Services, led by Donna Ockenden

  • Following its most recent inspection of the Trust in 2023, the CQC’s published report (2024) rated our maternity services as ‘good’ overall, and as ‘good’ across all five measured domains of: Safe, Caring, Responsive, Effective, and Well-led.
  • We offer a range of improved options of listening to women and families, including a birth options clinic and a birth preferences card to help women decide on their preferred way to have their baby. This enables service users to discuss and amend their preferences with their care team throughout pregnancy and into labour. This innovation has been adopted by other trusts across the country.
  • We are one of only a few hospitals to have a resident consultant obstetrician on duty on our delivery suite 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide our staff with high quality medical leadership and support when it is needed.
  • Fetal monitoring training has improved and now includes a full day of face-to-face training with assessment at the end of the day. Training has a specific focus on listening to the baby’s heart rate (intermittent auscultation) and monitoring contractions (CTG monitoring). Only staff who are up to date with their training are permitted to work with women in labour or in any area requiring fetal heart rate interpretation.
  • The service has seen a significant improvement in overall midwifery staffing levels. We have enhanced our senior and specialist midwifery teams to provide additional leadership, expert advice, and support for women and families, and the clinical teams.
  • We now have in place robust training programmes that equip the maternity workforce with up-to-date skills, training, and development, including the management of emergency scenarios. The senior leadership team covers the service 24 hours, seven days per week, which facilitates an additional level of support for escalation of concerns and provides advice and guidance to the maternity workforce and service users.
  • A risk assessment is undertaken at every antenatal appointment, on admission during labour, and is undertaken as part of hourly reviews when a woman is in labour. This risk assessment is discussed with the woman and her support partner. Any identified deviation is escalated to an obstetrician for review and treatment in collaboration with families.

We have made many improvements within our maternity and neonatal services but recognise that we still have further to go. We will continue to work with our colleagues, with families and with our local communities to provide the best standards of care.

Further information for former service users

Families who wish to discuss the maternity care they have received, can do so by contacting: sath.maternitycare@nhs.net

Families who wish to discuss the neonatal care their baby or babies have received, can do so by contacting: sath.neonatalcare@nhs.net

You can also contact our Patient and Advice Liaison Service (PALS) (please see details above).