Health secretary seeks advice over maternity inquiry staff who refused to give evidence

“The fact that senior clinicians refused to take part in Donna Ockenden’s review in Nottingham is totally unacceptable.

“I think it is wrong, I cannot understand why they thought that was okay for them to take that choice.”

Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn at Nottingham City Hospital in 2016 after a catalogue of failings, said: “Having these people forced to attend the health and social care committee would be an interesting day but we suspect meaningless for accountability and safe maternity care.”

In response to Ockenden’s review, the government announced it would be bringing in new measures to boost accountability, including ensuring that NHS staff – past and present – who refuse to engage with upcoming maternity reviews are compelled to give evidence, or face up to two years in prison.

At the time, the Department of Health and Social Care said: “These measures are designed to tackle a culture of silence exposed by the Nottingham review, where over 800 staff gave evidence – but many described a culture of being silenced by senior clinicians and hospital bosses when raising concerns around patient safety.”

The government is also looking at introducing the long-awaited Public Office (Accountability) Bill, external, commonly known as Hillsborough Law, which would ensure greater openness and accountability from public bodies following major incidents.

The bill was due to be passed in April this year – on the 36th anniversary of the disaster – but was paused amid a dispute over a potential opt-out clause for the security services.