An investigation into multiple infant deaths at Shropshire NHS trust in 2022 found inadequate care and problems with the neonatal service.

The Royal College of Physicians’ review says more research is needed into the high mortality rates across the whole West Midlands region as well as the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital (SaTH) NHS trust.

The report into the “birth journey” of seven baby deaths says the way the issues were handled was poor.

SaTH insisted the quality of treatment did not contribute to the deaths but apologized for examples of poor care.

A total of 18 deaths were recorded by SaTH in 2021-22; this was 5% higher than similar sized trusts.

Neonatal deaths were also high during the previous three years. That’s why the trust invited the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) to review the neonatal ward.

The 2021-22 period was that period. Senior midwife Donna Ockenden reports on SaTH failures that led to 200 deaths – at this stage the biggest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS is taking place.

This year the trust was rated good for maternity services by the Care Quality Commission.

The RCP said the overall impression was that the maternity service had made great improvements in the last two years.

However, the RCP report identified only five cases of good practice in 2022. Two of these were unsatisfactory and 10 had room for improvement.

All cases in the report have been heavily redacted to hide details, but it has been confirmed that Poppy Russell, who died from negligence in April 2021, was also included in the report.

A lawyer representing parents Neil and Katie Russell told the BBC he felt the RCP investigation did not fully reflect his clients’ concerns.

The report found that the neonatal ward in 2022 was more fragile than the maternity ward and had nursing leadership problems.

It was determined that a feeling of panic occurred from time to time during the resuscitation of babies while trying to insert tubes into their lungs.

Delays were also detected in the “golden hour” after birth, when some vital interventions, such as the administration of antibiotics, can make a difference.

A staff shortage was detected in newborn care due to limited availability of qualified nurses and reliance on institutional staff.

John Jones, medical director at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, said they had written to each of the 18 families whose baby or infants’ care was being reviewed and were meeting with them to answer questions and offer support.

“The review team did not find that the quality of care we provided to newborns was substandard or contributed directly to mortality rates,” he said.

“But although they described examples of good care, there were also examples of poor care that should have been much better. For this, we wholeheartedly apologize.”