A member of a police staff has been suspended on a security violation in an investigation into maternity care related deaths and serious injuries in the NHS Trust.
The Nottinghamshire Police launched a criminal investigation in September 2023, when the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) raised concerns about alleged serious damage to maternity services.
On Friday, the force stated that the information was allegedly replaced or removed from its system and a member of the staff was suspended during an investigation.
The force said that he had no idea that someone else was involved and does not believe that any information was shared outside the investigation, or someone’s medical record has been affected.
Nottinghamshire police said that it has referred to himself to the Police Conduct (IOPC) and Information Commissioner Office (ICO) for the independent office.
NUH is currently the subject of the largest NHS maternity review, headed by former senior Dai Donna Okenden, which includes more than 2,000 experiences of maternity care in two hospitals operated by the trust.
Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Rob Griffin said: “The Nottinghamshire Police has worked fast to suspend a member of police employees from Operation Perth after changing or removing information from our system.
“This security violation was identified due to our strong audit check and so we were able to recognize the person quickly. This person had the correct level of up-to-date waiting to reach the information he was able to do.
“The member of the employees was immediately removed from all access to our system on Wednesday 20 August. The staff member has now been suspended.
“We recognize this news on the impact of Operation Perth’s families and I have written to all the families to tell what has happened and what action we have taken.
“We want to assure them that at this stage we believe that we have all the procedures to restore all the information and to ensure that it does not affect the integrity of the investigation.
“We have voluntarily sent ourselves to the independent office for police conduct to offer more transparency as well as the Information Commissioner Office.
“We cannot comment on the true nature of the event, while there is an intensive investigation.
“The person was not in the part of a supervisor role or management team on Operation Perth and did not take any decision on the conduct of the investigation.
“Due to our strong systems, we can identify, revive and restore all information.
“We will continue to make families aware of all developments and inform any family members, whose information has been affected.
“I want to emphasize that whatever the family we do is in its heart, and we are firm to make sure they continue to trust and believe in our investigation.”