ONE of the most troubled and criticised services in local healthcare is set to step into the reality TV spotlight next week, with the launch of a new reality TV series.

Basildon Hospital's maternity unit, which has been the epicentre of sustained criticism by health service professionals and has been deemed responsible for a lack of car that led to the death of both mothers and babies, will be featured in a new TV series – 'The Young Midwives of Essex', an eight-part hybrid documentary-reality series on UKTV channel U&W which begins next week.

The Basildon unit was rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission in 2020 - with inspectors criticising the lack of staff with the right skills and experience.

Subsequently it was upgraded to requires improvement – but Thurrock Council's leading critical councillor for health branded the performance levels then as 'disappointing'.

Shane Ralph, then chair of Thurrock Council's health and wellbeing overview and scrutiny committee, said: ""It's still the same things, lack of communication in handovers, staff report errors. Those have come up again and again and I just feel lessons haven't been learnt."

The maternity unit has frequently been on the wrong end of very public criticism, some of it surrounding the death of a Thurrock mum.

The NHS Trust that runs the hospital has been broughy before Thurrock Council's scrutiny committee several times, under then Cllr Ralph's watch and beyond, and asked to outline its plans for improvement.

One of its most frequent critics has been the current chair of the People, overview and scrutiny committee, Cllr Neil Speight who is a local journlaist who has reported for 20 years on the hospital's performance.

He says; "I have repeatedly held the trust to account for a number of failings. I get current times are hard – and friends are few – but not one word has been said in our review meetings about this programme.

"Only this week we heard very scant details of the Trust's ten year plan for recovery. There was no mention of a reality TV series.

"No doubt we can all tune in to some obscure TV channel next week when we can learn about those plans from the next generation of potentially cockroach-eating, ostrich-testicle chewing generation of midwives!"