I read this shocking story this afternoon about negligence in Essex maternity units. The story struck home with me because the case is very similar to our own - to the death of my beloved wife Lanie in 2007.

I've never really felt able to tell the full story. The horror of the events that left me widowed with newborn twins is/was so powerful that it kept me from raising the issue in a more public manner. It also prevented me launching a legal case - which I should have done before three years were up - and then perhaps been able to secure a financial legacy for the children whose mother was taken from them.

But reading the story I've linked to above has flicked a switch. I really want to tell the story now. The complete and full story of how a hospital's negligence from the management at the top to the nursing staff on the wards was so appalling that it lead to the neglect and death of my wife.

...

I am sure following her death the hospital itself - St John's Chelmsford - was well aware of the failing following this tragedy, but I never heard a word of apology, nor any admission this was anything other than a natural death. The time has come to fully name and shame the hospital though, to tell the full and complete story of what happened in those weeks leading up to Lanie's death.

So stay tuned for that. I have yet to decide the form this will take. Perhaps an open letter here to the hospital, relevant members of parliament and the like would be in order. Perhaps a formal complaint to the hospital itself - republished here. Or a tale told in the national media should I gain sufficient interest. But whatever the case - the time has come to tell the full story, and I'm ready to tell it.