Shrewsbury and Telford Trust rolls out Poppy's Promise compassion training
Bereaved parents Katie and Neil Russell are helping Shrewsbury and Telford Trust roll out Poppy's Promise compassion training to 8,000 staff after maternity failings led to their daughter's death.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Katie and Neil Russell lost their daughter Poppy in 2021 when she was 12 hours old. Poppy died at Telford's Princess Royal Hospital after a series of maternity failings. An inquest found her death was preventable and rejected claims by the trust that Katie Russell was responsible, after the NHS had blamed her for refusing medical attention. The inquest heard that if Poppy had been born an hour earlier, she would have survived. Her parents later learned she had suffered for an hour and a half. The couple said listening to an expert describe that was re-traumatising. They also said finding out that staff had tried to cover up what happened was almost as hard as losing Poppy.
Instead of walking away from the trust that failed them, the couple decided to work with it. They devised Poppy's Promise, an effort to return compassion to healthcare. They describe it as seeing the person, not the diagnosis. It is about small moments, including the 30 seconds before entering a room to meet a patient for the first time or to tell them bad news. It is also about resetting thought processes in the moment.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Trust has committed to rolling out Poppy's Promise across all its 8,000 staff. It started in maternity services, where Poppy was failed. An inquiry in 2022 found that 201 babies and 9 mothers might have survived with proper care. The trust's leadership now believes that adding compassion to good, safe care can lead to better outcomes for families.
Poppy's Promise is built on four care principles. Compassion means showing kindness. Acknowledgement means recognising a patient's feelings. Respect means valuing their opinions. Empowerment means involving patients in their care. The challenge is remembering those principles when staff feel overwhelmed. Research suggests that patients treated with compassion and empathy have fewer complications, are more likely to comply with their medication and have better outcomes.
Poppy's parents said other NHS trusts and universities have been in touch to discuss incorporating Poppy's Promise into their teaching programmes. They hope the whole health service will embed compassionate care. 'We could have very easily been consumed by hate and anger and rage at what happened,' they said. 'And don't get me wrong, those feelings are still there. But it's about seeing what can come from this and if no change comes from what happened to Poppy then it's almost like, what's the point?'
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A 2022 inquiry found that 201 babies and 9 mothers might have survived with proper care. | |
| An inquest found Poppy Russell's death was preventable and rejected the trust's claim that her mother was responsible. | |
| Shrewsbury and Telford Trust committed to rolling out Poppy's Promise across all 8,000 staff. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC ONE West was the only channel in this sample and gave the story a detailed, sympathetic human-interest treatment. It focused on Katie and Neil Russell's account of loss and cover-up, then explained how Poppy's Promise will be rolled out to 8,000 staff, beginning in maternity. The report balanced the couple's anger and hope with the trust's claim that compassion can improve clinical outcomes.
- “It's seeing the person, not the diagnosis.”
- “It's about the 30 seconds before you go into a room when you meet a patient for the first time or when you tell them that bad news.”
- “We could have very easily been consumed by hate and anger and rage at what happened.”
Broadcast Timeline
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