Cases:
The case is covered by Channel 4 video below:
I Went Undercover Inside A&E | Undercover A&E: NHS in Crisis | Dispatches | Channel 4 Documentaries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWO4OBIinhs
This undercover video shows that the NHS is in crisis. It is a difficult watch, as shockingly the most vulnerable patients are not given the treatment and dignity that we all deserve. Now, more than ever, is not the time to prevent patients' access to justice by introducing Fixed Recoverable Costs. The very vulnerable with a complex medical history are the patients that are most likely to be prohibited from instructing a lawyer under the proposed regime. The Government should put patient safety at the top of its agenda rather than try to prevent those injured by health care providers getting answers and justice in the face of denial.
MATERNITY: BROKEN TRUST’ ITV1 and ITVX (now available on ITVX streaming services)
Over 600 mothers and babies died between 2012-2013 while under the care of NUH - Nottingham University Hospitals Trust’s maternity service. These figures do not include stillbirths.
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The deaths and the trauma faced by the patients and their families is now subject to a major inquiry by Donna Ockenden who conducted a similar probe into the tragic deaths and injuries to mothers and babies at Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals.
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The Nottingham families led by Dr Jack Hawkins and his former wife, Sarah (who both worked at NUH), and also suffered the loss of their baby child Harriet, claim that they were fobbed-off, blamed, denied access to files and records, and found a culture of indifference.
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A wall of silence which is now also the subject of a major police investigation.
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In the ITV film, Sarah (broadcast 9/6/24) tells the programme-makers that the hospital, ‘Killed our child, ruined our careers, and ruined our lives’.
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Jack said, ‘In order to start healing, we need justice.’
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Committed and dedicated legal professionals worked tirelessly to assist and support the families.
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Cases like these should never be repeated. However, they have the potential to fall into the new structure of fixed fees which the Sunak government is proposing, and it means many law firms will no longer see such cases as ‘viable’ from a cost -recovery perspective. The new plans may also discourage ‘self-representation’ in courts by families and parents.
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The sector has proposed an alternative plan but so far, government and the judicial process underway has never given it due attention.
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Sarah told BBC News (10/6/24) ; ‘We’re in contact with people with dead babies from Leeds to Plymouth and I think what really needs to happen is for there to be a public inquiry into England’s maternity services.’
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She concluded: ‘ It’s really difficult watching the Post Office inquiry because basically it felt to me like a copy and paste of NUH.’
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NUH have not made an admission on Sarah’s specific claim about Harriet’s death but have paid out £101 million since 2006 over failings in maternity care.
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The ITV documentary is available to watch now on ITVX.