Donna Ockenden FRSA , is a British midwife and community activist. She was commissioned in 2016 by the then UK Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Hunt, to chair an independent review into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. Initial findings of the Ockenden Review were reported in December 2020, with a final report published on 17 March 2022. [1] In May 2022, it was announced by NHS England that Ockenden would chair an independent review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH). This review commenced at the beginning of September 2022 [2] and is expected to continue until late 2025.
In February 2021, Ockenden was named as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce. [3] The fellowship is awarded by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), and is limited to individuals determined to have made outstanding achievements to social progress and development. [4]
In July 2023, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of West London for her achievements and expertise in UK maternity services. [5] In September 2024, Donna was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Chichester. [6]
Ockenden is an honorary president of Baby Lifeline, the mother and baby charity founded 40 years ago by Judy Ledger following the personal tragedy of losing three premature babies. [7] Donna is also a patron of MASIC, a charity that supports birth injured mothers and seeks to raise of the life changing effects of Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries (OASI's); [8] and an ambassador for baby loss charity Sands. [9]
From 2013 to 2017 Ockenden was first clinical director of midwifery, jointly with a Co clinical director, Obstetrics at the London Strategic Clinical Network at NHS England. [10] In 2015 the Nursing and Midwifery Council also appointed her as a Senior Midwifery Adviser in chief to the Chief Executive. [11]
Ockenden lives in Chichester. In January 2016 she and her daughters founded The Four Streets Project, a charity to support Chichester's homeless population. She also started the Community Coat Rack, which gives free coats to those in need in the winter. Chichester District Council gave Ockenden a civic award in February 2019. In 2022, Ockenden was named in the Vogue 25 'honouring the women shaping and remaking Britain in 2022'. [12] Also in 2022, Ockenden was named in the HSJ Top 100 Healthcare Leaders across the UK. [13]
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the regulator for nursing and midwifery professions in the UK. The NMC maintains a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses and nursing associates eligible to practise within the UK. It sets and reviews standards for their education, training, conduct and performance. The NMC also investigates allegations of impaired fitness to practise.
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North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) is a large NHS hospital in Crumpsall, North Manchester, England. It is operated by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. There is an accident and emergency unit, together with a maternity unit, high dependency unit and a mental health wing. A plan to rebuild the hospital was announced by Boris Johnson in the 2019 General Election campaign, and in November 2020 a £54 million funding bid for improvement works was made by the Trust, Manchester City Council, and Manchester Health and Care Commissioning.
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Sylvia Ernestine Denton (1941-2020), CBE, FRCN. RHV. Denton was one of the first Breast Care Nurses in the United Kingdom and President of the Royal College of Nursing from 2002-2006.
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Julia Frances Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege, is a British Conservative Party politician and businesswoman. She was created a life peer on 18 May 1990 as Baroness Cumberlege, of Newick in the County of East Sussex.
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The Furness General Hospital scandal involves an investigation by Cumbria Constabulary and other government and public bodies into the deaths of several mothers and newborn babies, during the 2000s at Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Cases date back to 2004, with a number of major incidents occurring in 2008. The death of Joshua Titcombe and a suppressed report by the Morecambe Bay NHS Trust brought the spotlight onto FGH in 2011 when investigations began. Claims of medical records being intentionally destroyed alongside the discovery of major wrongdoing on behalf of midwives led to threats of closure to the maternity ward.
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHFT) is an acute hospital trust in Cheshire. It runs Leighton Hospital in Crewe, Victoria Infirmary in Northwich, and Elmhurst Intermediate Care Centre in Winsford. MCHFT was established as an NHS Trust in April 1991, and became an NHS Foundation Trust in April 2008. The trust is currently led by Chair of the Board of Directors Dennis Dunn and CEO Ian Moston.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is the main provider of hospital services for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and North Powys. It runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, Oswestry Maternity Unit, and Wrekin Community Clinic, Euston House, Telford, in Shropshire, England. It is one of a small number of English NHS Trusts which takes patients from over the border in Wales.
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Rhiannon Louise Davies and Richard Anthony Stanton are married British activists who worked to establish the truth about the death of their daughter, Kate-Stanton Davies, at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in 2009. Their efforts led to the establishment of the Ockenden Review of maternity services, led by Donna Ockenden. Further, their campaigning led to West Mercia Police instigating Operation Lincoln into both individual and corporate gross negligence manslaughter at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
In 2017 Rhiannon Davies, her husband Richard and two other bereaved parents, Kayleigh and Colin Griffiths asked the UK health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to set up a public inquiry into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. Though Hunt did not establish a public inquiry, he ordered a review in April 2017. In May 2017 Donna Ockenden was appointed chair of the review, and it initially investigated 23 cases of potentially significant concern.
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