Health officials have ditched a panel of experts reviewing scores of deaths at a scandal-hit maternity unit amid conflict of interest fears.
The Government-ordered inquiry is reviewing around 220 suspicious incidents at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust dating back two decades – including 200 deaths.
However, last week families expressed fury at the supervising panel, accusing some of the experts of being implicated in the scandal.
And now NHS Improvement has disbanded the controversial panel, saying it will ensure that families are given the answers they need.
Rhiannon Davies from Ludlow, Shropshire, pictured with her daughter Kate moments after she was born on March 1, 2009. The infant died just six hours later
Families at the heart of the scandal believe the appointments were put in place to water down the review's findings.
Today the affected families praised the NHS Improvement annoucement, claiming the 'obstruction of truth has been prevented'.
Allegations of a cover-up or conflict of interest have been rejected by those on the panel.
NHS Improvement chief operating officer, Dr Kathy McLean, said the body was committed to ensuring Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust learns as much as it can from the review.
Dr McLean added: 'In response to feedback from families, NHS Improvement has decided to stand down the independent review panel.'
She claimed the intention had 'always' been to provide additional scrutiny to the review, being undertaken by senior independent midwife Donna Ockenden.
Richard Stanton, pictured with his wife Rhiannon Stanton-Davies, pictured, last week accused the NHS trust of trying to cover up the cause of their daughter's death
Devan Cadwallader was admitted to Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, carrying a healthy baby.
But in the delivery suite four days later, doctors told her that daughter Quinn had no heartbeat.
Mrs Cadwallader, 25, said that before going into labour she told hospital staff that the baby's movement had slowed down, but she was assured everything was normal.
Devan Cadwallader pictured with her husband Gavin
The findings of an internal review were inconclusive, and a post-mortem examination failed to find a cause of death.
Mrs Cadwallader and her husband Gavin, from Shrewsbury, believe their baby's stillbirth last December was preventable. 'If our concerns had been listened to, she could have survived,' she said.
The hospital trust said it had asked the couple if they would allow their case to be referred to the independent review of its maternity services.
But Dr McLean added: 'It is clear that its role has prompted concerns, which we hope are now resolved.
'The review remains completely independent and NHS Improvement will ensure that families are given the answers they need and that lessons are learnt.'
The panel included the head of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), which produced a damning report into the trust two years ago that went unpublished.
Instead, the college was allegedly paid by the trust to write up a glowing 'progress update' nine months later which essentially whitewashed their own findings.
Had the college published its first report – or alerted NHS watchdogs – subsequent tragedies may have been avoided.
The review's panel also included the head of the Royal College of Midwives, which for years has been focussed on women having natural births rather than caesareans.
Furthermore, the Royal College of Midwives is the union representing those midwives from the trust whose alleged poor care led
