Families affected by Nottingham maternity scandal told data loss 'likely malicious'
Nottinghamshire Police launched an investigation into the temporary loss of a computer file at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.
The file was recovered a few days after its deletion was spotted by the trust and led to more cases being added to the maternity inquiry.
The trust remains at the centre of the biggest review of maternity failings in NHS history, being led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.
In a letter to families involved in the review from Deputy Chief Constable Rob Griffin, which has been seen by ITV News, it said the deletion was "most likely to have been done intentionally/maliciously rather than accidentally".
Nottinghamshire Police said: "This investigation has been undertaken by my expert Cyber and Digital teams and has taken several months to complete," before adding: "We have not been able to find evidence sufficient to confirm the identity of the person responsible."
Families affected by failings at Nottingham University Hospitals have said they are "distressed" and "appalled to hear this".
In a statement, the Nottingham Affected Families Group said: "Nottingham families would like to thank the Police for their determined investigation. We are distressed that they were unable to find who did this.
"We are appalled to hear this news, though sadly we are not surprised.
"To know it is most likely an individual who most likely intentionally/maliciously deleted files of such importance is of grave concern. As families we all gave our trust to NUH staff in our most vulnerable state of life and we deserved better.
"To know that there is most likely an individual who is capable of such behaviour is devastating for the already harmed and for the future of NUH safety. We call for openness at the worrying time and for the individual, their colleagues or anyone who knows anything about this to come forwards as a matter of urgency. This is a patient safety emergency.'
NUH is the first trust to be prosecuted by healthcare watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) more than once after it was earlier fined £800,000 in 2023 for failures in the care of Wynter Andrews, who died 23 minutes after being born at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham in September 2019.
Ms Ockenden chairs The Independent Review of Maternity Services into Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust - and found over 2,000 families' cases were included in the review.
Hundreds of baby deaths took place at Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital in the past decade, which led to a public inquiry investigation.
Anthony May, Chief Executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "I would like to thank Nottinghamshire Police for their support in investigating this matter and we accept their findings.
"Upon discovering this issue, the Trust informed Nottinghamshire Police and engaged fully in the investigation. We have put appropriate measures in place to secure the digital files so that this cannot happen again."
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