This has been a long time coming. A very emotional day. Discussions & requests for police involvement have been requested for YEARS. Years we have been asking for this, sending evidence. It finally feels that the families voices are being taken seriously.
Mr Jeffrey is pleased to announce RBKC
He would like to tell you how delighted & proud he is. He says he remains the boss of this house….well done
@RichardBaker7br
utterly deserved.
#KC
#valentines2020
I know you’ve all been waiting for this years CPR based romance. Confirmed that the White Book* (back to the original gifting day) is on order & here for your reading pleasure, how the Bakers do romance.....*yes I do think buying me the white book is romantic
This is as a direct result of working with families in Nottingham. It is utterly bittersweet. I am shocked & honoured. Now let’s continue to get answers for families and enact change.
#piawards
#BLAW2022
begins & floods our timelines with remembrance & loss. For many it is a reflective time. Also an incredibly sad time. For those who don’t post. Who don’t speak of their loss. Who ‘carry on’, heavy & in silence because it is how you choose - I light my candle for you.
I have sat in inquests where staff have raised concerns over and over again. All through the official channels. Nothing. These were dismissed. Staffing levels are worryingly low. No time for training. No consistency in care. It’s not just the families crying out for change.....
This afternoon I was elected President of the Yorkshire Union of Law Societies. I adore this county and am ready to continue the amazing work of David Barraclough. Great to meet & hear from
@LawSocPresident
As we run to comment on the CQC report today. Please remember the little girl whose death led to this. Remember her Mummy and Daddy who miss her so much and let her death be the catalyst for actual change. She is not a statistic. Her name is Wynter.
Quite a nice thing to wake up to this morning. It helps to be part of a team who all play our part. No one is good on their own.
@thelegal500
#teamworkmakesthedreamwork
‘force of nature’ 🤭
‘National guidelines state the decision to end care should be made by a multidisciplinary team comprising at least two consultants - not just a single doctor, the family later learned’. & who told them? Me. & where did I learn this, another HSIB report.1/2
I have so many words but instead there are just tears. This. How could this happen. We knew it. But the truth is worse than we could have ever imagined. These families. Their extended families. Lives changed. Some about to change beyond recognition.
#publicinquiry
This includes you. As I engage this week, I really struggle to light a candle on the
#waveoflight
. I want to but it takes me back to when I was recovering from a loss & I lit a candle for the baby. So I probably won’t this week as it’s just too raw, 4 yrs later. That’s okay
#BLAW
When I asked for an EL LSCS I was asked to attend a room with a cons midwife for 45 mins telling me how wrong I was and then referred for psychological support. Which they immediately discharged me from. It was embarrassing for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals & a waste of my day.
"The Telegraph has found trusts across the country boasting about the way they promote natural birth, while internal hospital policy documents reveal a reluctance to perform caesarean sections."
@SteveBarclay
Ty for following this up.
In litigation I have numerous cases where the defendant solicitor is trying to bully me, sink me in emails & constantly changes their mind. It doesn’t phase me. It may have done 5 years ago. It’s incredibly sad that a person would do this to another.
We must not be afraid of standing up for what is right at every stage of our careers. If you see a fellow lawyer struggling to cope, reach out to them. If you see bullying and harassment taking place in your work environment, report it. (2 of 4)
@juniorlawyers
#JLDConf2019
There are many many families who have had to ‘use’ the media to gain a voice. Imagine having to tell your story about how your baby died or how you were seriously injured over & over & over until someone they are. Can we focus on positive change now please
The level of fight the families have had to get to this stage is unbelievable. It has been stressful, challenging and exhausting. I hope the outcome of this is to reflect changes across all maternity because it’s not just Nottingham. That, I know.
🚨 EXCLUSVE: Largest maternity scandal in NHS history expected to be uncovered at
@nottmhospitals
after
@NHSEngland
bows to family pressure to expand
@DOckendenLtd
inquiry. 1,700 families will now have their cases examined:
Preeti is an amazingly brilliant & bright woman who I know through my babyloss circle (I am not her lawyer). Please know that coming forward takes a huge amount of courage & faith. Change is so needed. Please be kind to the parents who speak up.
12 months ago I sat down with
@ShaunLintern
to discuss bringing to light my 9months of research into
#NUH
& I said this was big. Nothing was changing. Lessons weren’t being learned. Promises broken. Now over 500 families have come forward. There will be more. 1/2
To clarify points made about hospitals systematically covering up evidence for the coroner or going on a narrative to keep ‘eyes off’. This happens. Families & lawyers alike aren’t saying because of conspiracy or malice. It’s truth. A story:
Why I didn’t do it. Friends who were part of a cohort which I would have been part of, had I engaged, had a session called: how to avoid a c section. There was splitting of the group to brainstorm & present back.
What about choosing whatever delivery gets your baby home?!
“The NCT made me believe that I can control things that aren’t controllable, and that affected the decisions I made”
She believes she was a victim of a “normal birth” ideology that was heavily promoted at the NCT classes she attended.
This was sent to a WhatsApp group last night. As I rushed to get home for milk & cuddles, I reflected on this image & on what I heard from bereaved parents yesterday & what I do. It turns out that to be a shattered mum is in fact a luxury. We must make maternity safer.
Superb article: “We’re often told that miscarriages are no big deal because they’re really common; so is divorce, but you don’t often hear anyone say, “Sorry your husband left you – but it’s really common, and you can always get married again.”
Proud to play a part in this investigation. My concerns about HSIB have been growing for some time. Families cannot & should not be collateral in any agenda that organisations have. Patient safety, listening to families AND believing them should come first.
Ashtons' Natalie Cosgrove (
@BabyLossLawyer
) contributing to the
@Channel4News
investigation into the conduct of the Health & Safety Investigations Branch (HSIB) and concerns relating to their maternity programme.
Some days are better than other days....today's a good one. Although the shock of being called glamorous shows I need to make an effort for more than conferences and JSM's!
#teamwork
It lost my respect ‘mishap’. It’s called negligence and sometimes neglect for a reason. To water that down in order to please your readership rather than respect those who have suffered and continue to is wholly reprehensible
@bmj_latest
Ashtons is delighted to welcome Natalie Cosgrove and Amelia Dale to our thriving
@AshtonMedInjury
team today! The team's growth will enable us to expand the number of catastrophically injured people we help each year. Welcome Natalie and Amelia 👏
When you press ‘reply all’ to your entire firm, you can’t find a hole to crawl down and the only logical next step is just to resign and save your embarrassment. It’s been 12 hours and no, I’m not over it.
Why do organisations such as
@TeamNUH
&
@hsib_org
say issues are historical when that is just not true. One family were keen to take part in the investigation but feared it would have a negative outcome on their ongoing report. They feel helpless, blamed & bullied right now!
#Derby
in one case where I represented the family, the Trust denied negligence for years, YEARS. In all that time, guidance on gestational diabetes was not only incorrect but also poorly followed. From the lawyers to the medical staff, denial was central.
Please can Claimant lawyers refrain from comments that the
#discountrate
rate change is ‘favourable’, it’s not. It was wrong for years & has been properly calculated. Claimants only recover ££ in respect of their injuries. This isn’t a windfall or favourable.
#itsnotpolitics
What will it take to be listened to. What will it take to be heard. When will parents stop going home with empty car seats. When you learn from utter negligence. When you are humble enough to know you’re not providing safe care - then babies will go home.
I adore
#Christmas
but I’m working a half day today. Asked the husband to draft a letter from elf on the shelf to confirm Sophie was on the ‘nice list’. Can you tell he’s a lawyer...’formal notice please read carefully’ 😂
Here we go. Another year. Please do share even if this has not affected you. This week is soul destroying and empowering in equal measure. Knowing that people who have never experienced this loss is an ally means a lot.
#BLAW
Today marks the first day of
#BabyLossAwarenessWeek
.
This is the 21st Baby Loss Awareness Week in the UK, and whilst it has grown over time, the aims of the week remain the same.
This week we join together to remember our babies, raise awareness, and drive change 💖💙
I genuinely hope that
@MattHancock
is alerted to the family’s and the midwives own plea. We cannot change culture by changing protocols. I do not want to be on the same steps in 12 months time reading out another baby’s name. It has to stop here.
What a day.
@NatalieCSwits
and
@RichardBaker7br
did an incredible job representing Baby Wynter Andrews at her Inquest. The Coroner made a finding of ‘neglect’, describing her as a victim of NUHT’s gross failures & has referred them to the CQC.
#maternity
@NatalieCSwits
It is abundantly clear to me that the CQC would NOT be opening up without
@Safe_Maternity
shining a light with evidence, research & family stories. Maternity isn’t safe. Even if you deliver a baby & take them home does not mean your care was safe!
Absolutely this. I will never be able to understand any negativity levelled at bereaved parents. Before those who criticise start with the often aggression towards parents of dead babies. Please remember that. Their babies are dead. Use that as your starting point & just stop!
We've come under fire after we opposed
@NormalBirthConf
being held in Morecambe Bay next month. Here's my response to the attacks - really sad that this even needs to be said.
2/2 - but did
@theHSSIB
put that in Jaspers report. NO! Disgraceful. The care from the Trust was dire throughout. Did they show any sympathy in the inquest. No. Parents deserve more. Jasper deserved more.
To my clients, my colleagues, my friends and to me. It's okay to have bad days, it's great to have good days. It really is okay to not be okay. We should never suffer in silence. Mental Health affects us all. We are not alone.
#MentalHealthAwarenessDay
Oh hi
@LNER
why don’t you give any storage for prams on trains but I’ve just been barked at & told that I must hold my baby in the toilet area if she wants to sleep OR stand in the toilet area with the pram whilst simultaneously packing it down. I feel so disregarded.
Having sat with client a who have been part of the
@BBCPanorama
investigation. It’s heartbreaking to know that changes that could have been made years ago still haven’t. Years have passed. Babies have died. We must be open and honest to make changes.
To all the parents of rainbows. I get it. Yesterday was hard. Today is hard. Parenting after loss is hard. Loss is impossible. I struggle with a term which suggests that the storm is over when you have a rainbow. In fact, it all just swirls together, yet we go on.
Months and months of work. Families tirelessly telling their stories in the hope that their grief, their quest for information and to make change for positive. For the future families. For the staff who so desperately need to be listened to and feel helpless. We need change.
‘You know what is going on, you know the detail and the breadth and patterns of where it is happening, and we need your help to put it all together. We need to join forces to stop our beautiful babies dying.’
@EmilyJBarley
Carlsberg don’t make Clin Neg teams, but if they did, it would look like this. Northern contingent. Beautiful night out. Wonderful company with
@AshtonsLegal
French Legal Team. secret Santa knew exactly what I needed……
Delighted to have just presented for
@APIL
on babyloss. I could talk for hours on this subject. Trying to cram an hour was so difficult. So pleased to be able to share my views and the law with the amazing APIL community.
Rainbow skirt. Tick. Extra bags for all the freebies I will harness and probably use 50%. Tick. Ear piece to be like Frank from Father of the Bride. Tick. Must be the
@scilorg
Exhibition Day
#SCILed2023
The worst of this is that when your child dies you have lost everything. No amount of ££ will make this better. Saying sorry & promising change is what families want. Yet the rhetoric is always against families & the lawyers who support them. No fault is also not the answer.
“Rather than being viewed as a woman who’s just lost her child, in need of…care, in need of their help . . . to process what’s happened & to have any hope of being able to move forward, I was positioned as a potential risk or threat & treated that way.”
It’s a very busy day for
#maternity
news. Let us just remember that this is 1500 people whose lives had been turned upside down before this process & now it is all over again. The
#ockendenreport
will echo lots outside of this report. Check in on your clients whom it may affect.
I said at the beginning of lockdown
#happinessbeginswithgratitude
- thank you so much
@Bush_Company
for this lovely gift. It’s been a very busy few weeks. I am grateful to my clients for trusting me to represent them & their babies. It’s not a job, it’s a calling.
#BLAW2020
Had a very junior lawyer join me on the return leg of the Legal Service parade yesterday. Wonderful day in
#York
opening the Yorkshire Legal Year
#yorkshireunion
About last night. What an absolutely brilliant night and to catch up with this utterly wonder human
@AmyClowrey
was just the icing on the cake
#PIAwards2022
To all the parents this weekend who don’t get to hold their baby, or fill up the paddling pool, make copious amounts of snacks, get hustled for robucks, who don’t have to do ‘all’ the washing because it’s ‘drying weather’. Instead, who miss their babies so much. So very much.
I just don’t even know where to start with this. Many many many birthing people and staff already feel deprioritised. But go on Steve, do tell us of your plans to ‘help’ the NHS.
This afternoon, the Health Secretary
@SteveBarclay
will give a speech suggesting that maternity services should be 'deprioritised'. Our response in the thread below
1/5
I said that I didn’t want to be on those steps in a years time & here we are. Nothing has changed just a hospital using as much resource as it can to avoid a PFD rather than using resources to prevent more babies dying. The sad thing is, it’s not the only one. Rest in peace Adele
After a 3 day inquest into the death of Baby Adele O’Sullivan at Nottingham City Hospital, the Conclusion was handed down today by Assistant Coroner, Elizabeth Didcock. Adele's were represented by Clinical Negligence solicitor, Sadie Simpson.
“If trusts read what happened in Chester and are not seriously reflecting, then we are in very worrying times. No hospital should turn their head the other way. There is a responsibility now for all.”
Just a reminder that as the news on maternity services comes out in
#nottingham
today. Yes it’s a step in the right direction we’ve wanted for so long BUT this is because of baby death, harm to babies, to parents & trauma that some parents haven’t even acknowledged yet.
#gogently
Absolutely delighted for
@STEPSrehabUK
win tonight. They are a fantastic rehabilitation provider and now deservedly multi award winning! Congratulations
#PIAwards
And yet we see it time and time again. In some cases records altered or retrospectively added to months later. As though we won’t pick that up. The judge accepting that in this case is a huge step for patients who have said this for some time.
Many patients and families complain that medical records are not accurate. On this occasion the Judge accepted that not only were they inaccurate, they had been deliberately fabricated to conceal a failure to carry out essential fetal heart rate monitoring.
#maternity
Today marks the launch of
@Safe_Maternity
campaign for a statutory public enquiry into Maternity services nationwide. Pls follow the account & follow updates. This has been a long time in planning. It is vital that the Government listen to all stakeholders to make maternity safe!
“This reinforces the fact that whistleblowing processes in the NHS are not fit for purpose and need urgent reform also the need for there to be a robust system of regulation for senior NHS managers.”
Day 2: Jeffrey says it’s not too late to start your day right with a proper breakfast to fuel you for the day ahead. He loves a bit of porridge. ‘Breakfast of champions’, he says.
#TipsfromMrJ
‘The findings of the inquest will come as no surprise to Jasper’s parents, who already knew they had been desperately let down by the Trust. They have fought hard to highlight the failures in Jasper’s care’
The coroner at Jasper Brooks' inquest identified a catalogue of errors in the care provided to him and his mother. Jasper's parents have persevered to uncover the truth of what happened to their son, who should still be here today.
I remember those first meetings with the CQC. The family rightly had lost faith in all services there to support them. They were assured and today justice has been served. Let this be the catalyst for change.
#nottingham
#nuh
#maternity
#patientsafety
Robbie Powell’s death was not the reason that doctors now have to ‘tell the truth’ from 2012, they should always tell the truth. It was because of Will that the Duty of Candour came to be. Because of
@Helen_Gittos
@DerekRKENT
things change. The law changes. Brilliant Helen
Day 1 of the working week, not even lunch time and Jeffrey isn’t in any mind to start apologising for interrupting a conference call. So small, so mighty - doors are no barrier to him!
Government announces it has no plans to consult on reforming the outdated and unfair law on bereavement damages in England and Wales, except to introduce an inflationary increase.
This is not nearly good enough.
APIL will not let this go
#Fairness4families
#watchthisspace
Yes. I recall a few years back a CEO is a local law society called me ‘crazy’ at a Law Society event because he couldn’t work out why someone as outspoken as me was top table. That was the point. I’m ‘outspoken’. Long may we continue.
@DOckendenLtd
has finally been appointed as the chair of the inquiry into Nottingham. It’s what we have been fighting for for so long. It’s now the beginning. A beginning of real change. A thread.
Sarah and Gary Andrews deliver a statement following todays sentencing. NUH has been fined a record £800,000 for their failure to provide safe treatment and care for Sarah and their daughter Wynter.
On my way to
#London
for
@scilorg
#SCILLobbyDay
and looking forward to putting the case for Claimant's to MP's. Everyone deserves the right to access to justice, support from a professional when they ask for help & that any claims should be learning exercises
#patientsafety
#shamelessplug
for my course with
@mbl_seminars
- I really wish this course was around when I started litigating - resource packs all round! That's exactly why I designed it. London - March, Manchester - April