NHS TRUST MORTUARY SERVICE FAILED BEREAVED FAMILIES, REVIEW FINDS

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust failed to provide dignified post-death care to families, according to a review published last month by Donna Ockenden into the largest maternity scandal in NHS history. The review examined 17 babies and one adult, finding cases in which a baby was disposed of as clinical waste, another was placed in a mortuary space already occupied by a deceased adult, and the wrong baby was released to funeral directors. In March, eight bodies were discovered in a state of advanced deterioration in the trust's mortuary after hospital freezer capacity ran out. The trust operates the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital.

Ockenden identified a pattern of poor practice spanning from 2008 to 2025. One bereaved couple, Natalie and David Needham, received graphic colour photographs of their deceased son Kouper's post-mortem examination at their home, alongside a letter detailing costs associated with his death. Natalie Needham stated the photographs replaced her final memory of holding her son alive. The review found clinicians had used language such as "fetus", "sample" and "specimen" to describe babies. Ockenden concluded that "many incidents involving poor post-death care share striking similarities, showing a marked lack of learning".

The review identified structural failings in how the bereavement service, mortuary and funeral directors operated in isolation from one another. Ockenden's concerns about post-death care were sufficiently serious to warrant a dedicated investigation separate from the main maternity review. The report runs to 381 pages and documents the extent of failures in mortuary management at the trust.