23 March 2021

A new committee has been formed by the Trust that runs Shropshire’s maternity services to drive forward actions arising from the first Ockenden Report, which was published in 2020.

The Ockenden Report Assurance Committee (ORAC), set up by the Board of Directors at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, will meet monthly. To promote transparency and accountability, all meetings will take place online in public.

The first committee meeting will take place from 08:30-11:00 on Thursday 25 March. To watch the live meeting, click here.

The principal purpose of the Committee, which will be responsible, and directly accountable to the Board of Directors, will be to obtain and provide assurance in relation to the delivery, evidence, sustainability and impact of the implementation of the actions arising from the first report of the independent review into maternity services at SaTH.

The duration of the Committee, which will be determined by its programme of work as agreed with the Board of Directors, is not expected to extend beyond twelve months.

Committee members will include the Trust’s Chief Executive, Louise Barnett, and representatives from partner organisations, including Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Maternity Voices Partnership, Clinical Commissioning Groups, and Healthwatch.

SaTH’s Chief Executive, Louise Barnett, said: “As we strive to implement all of the actions in the Ockenden Report for the women and families who use our maternity services, this committee will seek to provide assurance and tangible evidence that we are making improvements to the care and services that we provide in an open, accountable and inclusive way.”