We are delighted that Donna Ockenden has agreed to become an Ambassador for Sands.
Donna Ockenden FRSA is a nurse, a midwife and community activist. She has more than 30 years’ experience within a variety of health settings both in the UK and internationally.
Donna has long been a champion of patient safety in women’s and children’s health and maternity services, and committed to compassion and excellence in bereavement care.
Throughout every aspect of her life, Donna believes in “be the best you can…” and does all she can to ensure this happens on daily basis.
“I have been passionate about maternity safety and the provision of compassionate, high quality bereavement care since I was a newly qualified midwife in the early 1990s. Through my recent and ongoing reviews of maternity services I have gained a deeper understanding of the importance of excellent bereavement care and the need for all healthcare professionals to get the training they need.
“I am proud to become an Ambassador for Sands as I share in their determination to save every life they can, and to ensure that bereaved parents get the best possible care from the very moment they find out that their baby has died.”
- Donna Ockenden, Midwife, Nurse and new Sands Ambassador
In 2017 Donna was appointed by the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, to chair the Independent review into Maternity Services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust, the final report of which was published on 30 March 2022.
We said that her review put parent's voices at the heart of maternity safety.
In May 2022, Donna was appointed as the Chair of the Independent review into Maternity Services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust by the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP. The review officially started on the 1 September 2022.
“I am delighted to welcome Donna Ockenden as Sands’ newest Ambassador. Her years of experience and public profile mean she is in a unique position to make a real difference to our work. In particular, to raise awareness of both the need for equal access to excellent bereavement care and support, and of the right of every mother to expect safe maternity care for herself and her baby.
“Sands is working hard to improve care, in partnership with the NHS and UK governments, and we want to support Trusts to make the improvements that will save babies’ lives, and ensure that when a baby does die the parents are given the best standard of bereavement care.
“Donna’s knowledge about which initiatives are working on the ground, and what actions are outstanding from previous inquiries, will enable Sands to target support to those hospitals that need this in order to provide the best, safest care possible.”
- Clea Harmer, Chief Executive of Sands
Donna and her team work alongside a number of charities who are committed to ensuring the best and safest outcomes for mothers and their babies and that they receive safe care during the whole of their maternity journey and postnatal period.
In addition to being an Ambassador for Sands, Donna is also Patron for MAMA Academy, and an honorary president of Baby Lifeline, the mother and baby charity funded 39 years ago by Judy Ledger following the personal tragedy of losing three premature babies.