Up to June 2019, 250 cases of concern in maternity were being investigated by an enquiry led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden commissioned in 2016 by Jeremy Hunt.

[1] The interim report maintains the number of cases, "seems to represent a longstanding culture at this trust that is toxic to improvement effort".

[6] In March 2018, the Department of Health and Social Care gave the go-ahead to more than £300 million worth of funding for the transformation of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.

[8] The trust was one of five in England to benefit from a five-year, £12.5m programme announced by Jeremy Hunt in July 2015 to bring in Virginia Mason Medical Center to assist English hospitals using their clinical engagement and culture tools including the Patient Safety Alert System and electronic dashboard.

The trust has long had difficulty running A&E services on both sites, and in October 2019 Matt Hancock authorised the controversial reorganisation.

[11] In May 2022 the daily operational costs of 1.3m per day put significant financial pressures on the trust who was also struggling to fill about 600 vacant staff positions.

The Trust was criticised in a report into the death of Kate Stanton-Davies, who was born in a midwifery led unit in Ludlow in March 2009.

The CQC told the trust to make sure there are enough qualified and trained staff in the hospitals in order to look after people and protect them from the risk of harm.

It was reported that “inappropriate” restraint techniques and rapid tranquillisation were being applied to mental health patients who were then left unsupervised in accident and emergency corridors.

[34] Up to June 2019, 250 cases of concern in maternity were being investigated by an inquiry led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden commissioned in 2016 by Jeremy Hunt.

[2][3] In the aftermath of the final Ockenden Report published on 30 March 2022, which identified 60 areas for improvement and 201 avoidable stillbirths and neonatal deaths, concerns about maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) continue to persist.

[36][37] Beth Heath, head of clinical negligence at Lanyon Bowdler, has reported that families are still experiencing preventable stillbirths, with two recent cases occurring within the past year.

Heath also noted that many expectant mothers are choosing to seek care outside Shropshire due to a continuing lack of trust in local maternity services.

[40] However, ongoing legal challenges and concerns from families suggest that significant issues with the Trust's maternity services remain unresolved.