Boss of West Suffolk Hospital says critical letter from midwives “right thing to do”

The boss of West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds said a whistleblowing letter sent to inspectors and a newspaper by maternity staff was “the right thing to do”.

The anonymous letter, which was sent to the Bury Free Press, the Care Quality Commission and the West Suffolk Foundation NHS Trust, said that midwives were “exhausted and broken” and that the unit was “consistently short-staffed”.

It claimed the midwives had spoken out because of a sharp fall in standards of care and added that staff were “under extreme pressure all the time, which has left them fed up, exhausted and burnt out.”

Interim chief executive of the trust Craig Black, said the letter was “absolutely the right thing to do.”

He went on to say “This is an opportunity to thank those members of staff that did feel so committed to the level of service they were providing on a daily basis that they felt the need to publicly air those concerns.

“All of the concerns that were raised I would personally share.  There is  shortage of midwives in west Suffolk, there is a shortage of midwives across the NHS – we are not immune from those wider pressures.”

Chadwick Lawrence’s team of medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record.  The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of medical negligence.  He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in medical negligence claims.  Tony also acts as a Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled.  Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk.  Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no win, no fee solicitors for free legal advice on Freephone 0800 304 7382