Sarah Ashburn, Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children (Lead for Child Death)/CONI Co-ordinator, NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board
Emma Brown, Area Coroner, Louise Hunt, Senior Coroner, Birmingham & Solihull
As a practicing barrister for 15 years Emma specialised in Clinical Negligence early and developed a very successful practice encompassing catastrophic injury and high value claims arising from a broad spectrum of medical disciplines. A large part of Emma’s practice took her into the coroner’s jurisdiction where, as well as representing NHS Trusts and families, she acted for the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice as Treasury Counsel. As Treasury Counsel Emma also acted for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board in the assessment of the final 50 non-tariff claims arising from catastrophic non-accidental injury claims.
Since becoming a Coroner Emma has presided over hundreds of inquests ranging from those of short duration with few witnesses and issues, to complex, high-profile inquests, often with juries, lasting many days with large volumes of witness evidence and many interested persons. Emma, alongside H. M. Senior Coroner Louise Hunt, commenced the investigation into hundreds of deaths arising from treatment provided by convicted surgeon Ian Paterson and was the Coroner with conduct of the investigations and inquests into the deaths of 5 men in an incident at a metal recycling plant in Birmingham.
Following her appointment as a Recorder (fee-pad Circuit Judge in the County Courts) on the Midlands Circuit Emma has gained a wealth of experience in all areas of civil law and has recently started sitting on public and private law family cases.
Nic Medd, Designated Doctor, Derby & Derbyshire, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS FT
Dr Nic Medd is the Designated Doctor for child death for Derbyshire and Derby ICB. She also works as a Consultant general paediatrician with subspeciality interest in neonatology at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, a district general hospital close to the beautiful Peak District. She enjoys playing hockey, mountaineering with her family and running with her springer spaniel.
DCI Claudia Musson, Major Crime, East Midlands Special Operations Unit & DCI
Detective Chief Inspector Claudia Musson has served in policing for over 23 years, dedicating the majority of her career to detective work. She currently holds the role of Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) within the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) – Major Crime, where she leads complex murder investigations across Derbyshire and the wider East Midlands region. Claudia’s passion for safeguarding began during her time as Force lead for Child Protection, a role that sparked her enduring interest in this area of work. Outside of work, Claudia is a proud mum to energetic twin boys, aged four, who keep her on her toes!
Joshua Parker, Derbyshire Police
Detective Chief Inspector Josh Parker, currently works in contact management within Derbyshire Police where he is establishing a Vulnerability Hub, and a Rapid Video Response team. Prior to this he worked in a number of different Detective Inspector roles, and during this case was the Detective Inspector on the North Child Investigation Team. He is also the Police Representative to Derbyshire CDOP. Outside of work he is the father to 2 boys aged 9 and 3.
Kayleigh McMahon, Lead Nurse Child Death Reviews, Derby & Derbyshire ICB
Kayleigh McMahon is the Lead Nurse for Child Death Reviews for Derby & Derbyshire ICB. She leads the national Child Death Review Nurses Peer Network and is the Nurse representative for the ACDRP. She has a background in Midwifery, Health Visiting & Safeguarding. Outside of her professional role, she is kept very busy being a solo Mum to her 2-year-old boy – mainly singing numerous versions of Old MacDonald had a Farm.
Anne-Sophie Darlington, Professor of Child and Family Psychological Health
Deputy Head of School Research
Katherine Hunt, University of Southampton
Donna Ockenden, Nurse, Midwife and Independent Review Chair
Donna Ockenden FRSA, Hon D.Litt and Hon D.Sci is a nurse, a midwife and community activist. She has more than 35 years’ experience within a variety of health settings both in the UK and internationally.
In 2017 Donna was appointed to chair the Independent review into Maternity Services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust, the final report of which was published in spring 2022.Unusually, the then Government accepted in full all the findings of the report on the day of publication and significant work was commenced on the Ockenden ‘blueprint’ for safe maternity care, with much more still needing to be done.
Donna has been a champion of patient safety in women’s and children’s health and maternity services – she works alongside a number of charities who are committed to ensuring the best and safest outcomes for mothers and their babies, including Baby Lifeline, SANDS, MASIC and Footprints Baby Loss.
In May 2022, Donna was appointed as the Chair of the Independent review into Maternity Services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is expected to publish in June 2026.
Peter Fleming, Emeritus Professor of Infant Health and Developmental Physiology, and Honorary Consultant Paediatrician, Centre for Academic Child Health, University of Bristol
I am a paediatrician and have been involved in the investigation of infant and childhood deaths for more than 40 years and led the “Back to Sleep” campaign in the 90s. My research team have identified most of the known risk factors for unexpected infant deaths. I was one of the authors of “Working together to Safeguard Children” and the Kennedy report 2004. I have been involved in the NCMD since its inception in 2018, and am currently working with the Bristol NCMD team on a project to investigate all unexpected child deaths over one year of age from 2020 to 2023.
Jonathan Cusack, Consultant Neonatologist, Clinical Director for Women’s & Children’s, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Dr Jonathan Cusack is a Consultant Neonatologist with the Leicester Neonatal Service. He has worked for the NHS for more than 25 years and has extensive clinical and managerial experience
He was the Head of Service for Neonatal Services for 10 years and is now Clinical Director for Women’s and Children’s Services in Leicester.
Jonathan has extensive risk and medicolegal experience. He provides court expertise in Civil courts for both claimants and defendants and has provided expert evidence to a number of Coroners Courts. He has experience of acting as an expert advisor to the Police and Criminal courts, including ongoing high profile criminal cases.
He was educational supervisor for Dr Hadiza Bawa Garba; a doctor found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter and was involved in her successful appeal against the GMC at the Royal Courts of Justice.
