The midwife who led the largest NHS review into baby deaths is being sent to investigate a new maternity scandal in Nottinghamshire.

       An inquiry into maternity services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust was announced last summer, amid concerns over the deaths of 30 babies.

       But more than 450 families have now come forward, with bereaved parents raising concerns that the ongoing review was “not fit for purpose”.

       NHS chiefs announced on Thursday that Donna Ockenden, a midwife who recently completed a separate inquiry which linked more than 200 baby deaths to failings by Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, will start a new investigation into Nottingham maternity services.

       It follows meetings between families and Sajid Javid, the Helath Secretary, who spoke with bereaved relatives on Thursday.

       Families have been told the current review team will conclude their work by Friday June 10, after concerns that the current review was not fit for purpose.

       A letter from Sir David Sloman, the chief operating officer at NHS England and NHS Improvement, says that although an interim report is being issued, the national investigation team will be asked to start “afresh”.

       Millions paid out by trust to parents

       It says that the trust has been told to “urgently consider the findings of this interim report and make the immediate changes necessary to ensure the safety of mothers and babies in their care.”

       “After careful consideration and in light of the concerns from some families, our own concerns, and those of stakeholders including in the wider NHS that the current Review is not fit for purpose, we have taken the decision to ask the current Review team to conclude all of their work by Friday 10 June,” he wrote.

       Last year, The Independent and Channel 4 disclosed that millions had been paid out by the trust in relation to 30 baby deaths and 46 cases of babies who had been left permanently brain-damaged.

       Jack Hawkins, a medic, became a whistleblower after his daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016. A series of errors during Mr Hawkins' wife Sarah's pregnancy were found to have caused Harriet's death.

       He said the couple were effectively “blamed” for the death, with the trust denying that they had contacted the hospital about their concerns, forcing the couple to retrieve telephone records.