Force Nottingham NHS bosses to face MPs over maternity scandal – Wes Streeting

Senior staff who refused to be involved in the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history should be brought before Parliament, former health secretary Wes Streeting has said.

Hundreds of babies and mothers suffered preventable harm, an investigation by Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust has found.

As part of her review, Donna Ockenden said that while 66 former and current senior NUH colleagues were contacted, only 35 were interviewed. Streeting said the “cowardice” of those who refused to take part was an “insult”.

Whistleblower Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn, said he understood the sentiment but questioned whether Parliament was the right forum for further investigation.

Streeting, who resigned as health secretary in May, wants anyone who refuses to give evidence to Ockenden’s inquiry to appear before MPs on the health and social care select committee.

In a letter to committee chair MP Layla Moran, monitored by the BBC, Streeting said: “Their cowardice is an insult to the Nottingham families.

“As I sit and listen to these parents describe their harrowing experiences of pain and death, I find it absolutely implausible that people working for the NHS are not giving an honest explanation of what went wrong and why.

“This is indicative of a culture of cover-up in the NHS that must end. “I am writing to Donna Ockenden to ask you to use your powers as chair of the health and social care select committee to call on those who refuse to give evidence to explain their actions before Parliament.

“If the threat of being charged with contempt of parliament is necessary to hold those in power to account, so be it.”

Select committees can compel UK witnesses to attend and answer questions. Institute of government think tank, external.