PA Media
A corporate manslaughter investigation has been opened into failings that led to hundreds of babies dying or being injured at maternity units in Nottingham.
Nottinghamshire Police said they were examining whether maternity care provided by the Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS trust had been grossly negligent.
The trust is at the centre of the largest maternity inquiry in the history of the NHS, with about 2,500 cases of neonatal deaths, stillbirths and injuries to mothers and babies being examined by independent midwife Donna Ockenden.
The police investigation will centre on two maternity units overseen by the trust, which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital.
In a statement on the force’s website, Det Supt Matthew Croome, from the investigation team, said corporate manslaughter was a “serious criminal offence”.
He said detectives were “looking to see if the overall responsibility lies with the organisation rather than specific individuals”.
The police’s investigation into deaths and serious injuries related to NUH’s maternity care – called Operation Perth – has seen more than 200 family cases referred.
The force said it expects about 2,500 to be submitted in total.
