Donna OckendenClinician
Chair of Independent Maternity Reviews; Director, Donna Ockenden Limited
Donna Ockenden Limited is based in Chichester (Chichester)
Cited in UK press coverage of health & social care
9 citations
Across 1 topic, first on 27 Aug 2026.
Biography
Donna Ockenden is a British independent senior midwife with more than 35 years of experience in UK and international health settings, including 14 years as a Head of Midwifery/Chief Midwife and more than five years as a Divisional Director of Women and Children's Divisions. She served as Chair of the RCM England Heads of Midwifery Advisory Board from 2006 to 2014 and was appointed Senior Midwifery Adviser to the Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2015. In 2016 she was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health to chair an independent review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust; the final Ockenden Report, published in March 2022, found that 201 babies and nine mothers could have survived with better care and made 60 recommendations for the Trust and national maternity services. She subsequently chaired the Independent Review of Maternity Services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (final report published June 2026, finding 520 mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm) and was appointed by Health Secretary Wes Streeting to chair the independent review of maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. She is consistently cited in press coverage as a leading voice on NHS maternity safety, staffing shortfalls, and the need to listen to affected families.
References
- 1.About Donna – Donna Ockenden — Career history, senior NHS roles, review chairmanships, RCM board role, NMC adviser role, awards and contact details
- 2.Donna Ockenden appointed to chair Leeds maternity review – GOV.UK press release — Appointment by Health Secretary Wes Streeting to lead independent review at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- 3.Ockenden review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust: final report – GOV.UK — Confirms Ockenden chaired the Nottingham review with 160+ reviewers; final report published June 2026
- 4.Ockenden Maternity Review – official review website — Confirms her role chairing the Nottingham independent maternity review and the review's scope
- 5.Donna Ockenden – HSJ Patient Safety Congress speaker profile
Expertise
Cited on
Stated areas of expertise
- Maternity safety
- Independent clinical review
- NHS maternity workforce and staffing
- Patient and family engagement
- Neonatal care quality
- Midwifery leadership
Notable achievements
- Chaired the Independent Review of Maternity Services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust; final report (March 2022) found 201 babies and nine mothers could have survived with better care, and made 60 recommendations. Source ↗
- Chaired the Independent Review of Maternity Services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust; final report (June 2026) found 520 mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm, reviewed by a team of over 160 independent reviewers. Source ↗
- Appointed by Health Secretary Wes Streeting to chair the independent review into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Source ↗
- Listed in the HSJ 100 'most influential people in health' in June 2022. Source ↗
- Named Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (FRSA) in February 2021. Source ↗
What they’ve said
“The thousands of women I've spoken to want a safe birth above everything else, so we should not vilify or criticise women who make those decisions. In the reality of today's maternity services – where women are living in poverty, deprivation, they've got pre-existing illnesses – obstetricians, midwives, nurses can only do so much, and we don't always do enough in all cases to optimise women's health prior to pregnancy.”
one of the UK's most senior midwives leading the biggest inquiry in NHS history into maternity failures in Nottingham · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Caesareans overtake natural vaginal births in England for first time, NHS data finds ↗
“It is an honour to have been asked to chair this review, and I feel a profound sense of responsibility to the parents, babies and healthcare professionals it concerns to ensure that we get this right.”
midwife · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Families welcome appointment of Donna Ockenden to Leeds maternity inquiry ↗
“There was this ongoing thing that South Asian women would complain about pain more. But I don't think it was cultural differences at all: I think it was just discrimination.”
senior midwife writing the Nottinghamshire report · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Midwives want to make childbirth miraculous – so what went so wrong in Nottingham? | Zoe Williams ↗
“Ockenden believes there is "an improving culture in maternity services in Nottingham in 2026 but there remains work to do".”
Source references
- Caesareans overtake natural vaginal births in England for first time, NHS data findstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
- Families welcome appointment of Donna Ockenden to Leeds maternity inquirytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
- Midwives want to make childbirth miraculous – so what went so wrong in Nottingham? | Zoe Williamstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
- Report on Nottingham NHS maternity scandal to reveal ‘horrendous’ failingstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
- Nottingham maternity care scandal review: what are the key findings?theguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
Contact & links
Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other registered clinicians quoted in a clinical capacity. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.