Neil and Katie Russell are working with the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust (SaTH) to introduce a new compassionate care initiative called 'Poppy's Promise'. This follows the death of their daughter, Poppy, in April 2021 at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, just 12 hours after her birth.
An inquest in 2023 concluded that Poppy's death was preventable and found that the trust had wrongly blamed Katie Russell for her daughter's death, stating she had refused foetal monitoring. The inquest determined this claim was untrue. The trust later acknowledged failings in care and apologised.
Poppy's Promise is built on four principles: compassion, acknowledgement, respect, and empowerment. The initiative aims to ensure patients are treated with kindness and involved in their care. SaTH is now implementing Poppy's Promise across its 8,000 staff and has incorporated related questions into its recruitment processes.
Other NHS organisations and universities have reportedly contacted Poppy's parents to explore integrating Poppy's Promise into their programmes, with the goal of embedding compassionate care throughout the health service.