STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Health watchdogs set up to protect NHS patients when things go wrong face damning criticism in a report into the scandal of dozens of mothers and babies who died at a hospital following a catalogue of poor care. As many as 30 mothers and babies died at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust as a result of substandard care made worse by professional rivalries, the independent inquiry is expected to conclude this week. Six midwives face disciplinary hearings in front of the Nursing and Midwifery Council later this year, but to date no nurses, midwives or doctors have been permanently struck off. The investigation has heard how midwives neglected to alert doctors about patient complications in time because of a ‘turf war’ between the two professions. Midwives appeared not to have been on speaking terms with doctors, and claimed they were made to feel irrelevant when doctors were called in to help with difficult cases.

But the report, commissioned by Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, is also expected to criticise the Care Quality Commission, along with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.