Fresh allegations have emerged from the NHS trust at the centre of Britain's largest maternity inquiry, with pregnant women allegedly labelled with an offensive acronym telling them to "f**k off home." The three letters "FOH" were reportedly written on a whiteboard beside the names of heavily pregnant women at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), according to a BBC Panorama investigation.
Far from denoting a clinical necessity or a specific care pathway, the acronym was reportedly used as shorthand for "f**k off home" — a signal from staff that they wanted expectant mothers to leave the maternity ward. The allegation was revealed in a 2018 resignation letter from a member of staff and is among a series of disturbing claims emerging from the trust, where care provided to around 2,500 families between 2012 and 2025 is now under scrutiny.
Staff Described a 'Frightening Place to Work'
Former workers described Nottingham's maternity unit as a "frightening place to work." The review, directed by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, is examining occurrences of stillbirths, maternal and neonatal fatalities, and instances where mothers and infants sustained injuries. These specific claims represent just one component of the broader investigation currently being held.
Speaking to Panorama, Ockenden said: "Nottingham thought that there was a Nottingham way, that they were some kind of superior NHS trust compared to others." According to former staff, that culture was reflected in the way some women were treated during labour. One of the recurring themes highlighted by former staff was what they described as a determination to keep women at home for as long as possible before giving birth.
A midwife recalled a woman calling the hospital to say she was in labour but being told there was no need for her to be admitted. "When she came in, her baby was dead. The mother's perineum and vaginal wall collapsed because she'd been left to labour for so long. She now has a stoma bag."
Heartbreaking Consequences for Families
The letter also claimed another midwife had advised colleagues to send pregnant women who had arrived worried they were going into labour to go home with the advice: "Don't be too kind, she'll keep coming back." The contents of the letter were later shared with Sarah Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet was stillborn in 2016 after concerns raised by her family were repeatedly ignored over six days.
Sarah said: "That's quite upsetting for me to hear. The last phone call I made to a ward manager, she might as well have just said that to me," she said, referring to the FOH initials. Speaking to the BBC, she added: "Who writes that in a caring profession?"
Toxic Culture and Staffing Pressures
Issues extended beyond the grievances of families; former employees also described the environment within Nottingham's maternity services as a toxic culture, according to Panorama. One midwife recalled a junior colleague caring for a "complicated woman" who had been promised support if she needed help, however staff were occupied with shopping for handbags online. "But [she] was ignored when she buzzed [for help]. The co-ordinator and her cronies were busy shopping for handbags online," the midwife said.
According to former employees, cultural issues within the trust were intensified by significant staffing strain. A staff member described Nottingham as a "frightening place to work," noting that personnel frequently expressed concerns regarding persistent understaffing alongside their worries about the workplace environment. One colleague recalled "running in and out of people's rooms" and fearing a mother or baby would die because there were not enough appropriately trained staff on duty. "Sometimes we'd work all night without food or a loo break. People were exhausted."
Warnings Ignored
Warnings about 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. "The single most important factor threatening the wellbeing of families and midwives and the cause of a potential disaster is inadequate staffing," the letter stated. But Brydon told BBC Panorama the response from management was "inadequate" and "all they did was blame the HR department."
Ockenden said more than 800 trust staff have now spoken to the maternity review, with a lack of training and equipment among the issues repeatedly raised. The review has also heard allegations relating to the treatment of both staff and patients from ethnic minority backgrounds. Ockenden said she had encountered "countless" examples, including reports of staff mimicking accents and non-white women being treated more dismissively. "There was this ongoing thing that South Asian women would complain about pain more," she said. "But I don't think it was cultural differences at all, I think it was just discrimination."
Trust and Government Responses
Anthony May, chief executive of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, who was not in post when the allegations were made, said: "We need to take accountability as an organisation." He added: "One of the first things I did was publicly say that we would tackle racism in this organisation, because it's abhorrent and utterly unacceptable. And we did."
NHS England told Panorama: "A number of new initiatives have been introduced to make care safer, including new clinical standards for every maternity service in England to prevent maternal deaths and harm." A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Our thoughts are with the families in Nottingham who have been failed so badly - every woman deserves safe, compassionate care, and it is devastating when that is not the case. Donna Ockenden has given these families a voice, and her review will provide vital learnings to help make maternity services safe and equitable for every family."
The spokesperson added: "Baroness Amos' independent maternity and neonatal investigation will ensure families harmed by maternity care get the truth and accountability they deserve, and the Secretary of State is chairing a Taskforce to take urgent action on the recommendations from the Baroness' report as well as those from Donna Ockenden's report. We are already making progress on maternity: recruiting 2,000 more midwives, investing £149 million to improve the safety of maternity and neonatal care facilities, and implementing programmes to reduce birth-related brain injury."
