Pregnant women were allegedly labelled with an offensive acronym telling them to 'f**k off home' at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), according to a BBC Panorama investigation. The three letters 'FOH' were reportedly written on a whiteboard beside the names of heavily pregnant women, used as a shorthand for the phrase.
The allegation was revealed in a 2018 resignation letter from a staff member and is among a series of disturbing claims emerging from the trust. The care provided to around 2,500 families between 2012 and 2025 is now under scrutiny in a review directed by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.
Former staff described a toxic culture, with one midwife recalling a junior colleague caring for a 'complicated woman' who was ignored when she buzzed for help because staff were 'busy shopping for handbags online'. Another midwife recalled a woman calling to say she was in labour but being told there was no need to come in; when she arrived, her baby was dead.
Staffing pressures were formally raised in 2018 when senior midwife Sue Brydon wrote to the trust's leadership in a letter signed by more than 50 maternity staff, warning that inadequate staffing was 'the single most important factor threatening the wellbeing of families and midwives'. Brydon told Panorama the response from management was 'inadequate'.
Ockenden said more than 800 trust staff have spoken to the maternity review, which is examining occurrences of stillbirths, maternal and neonatal fatalities, and injuries to mothers and infants.
