A couple whose healthy baby was aborted because of an incorrect diagnosis of a fatal abnormality are in dispute with the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) over who should lead the inquiry into the incident.

The couple claim that Pranav Pandya, the proposed chairman of the inquiry team and a consultant in foetal medicine at University College London Hospitals, has a conflict of interest because he co-edited a medical book that contained a paper jointly written by one of the NMH doctors involved in their case, reports The Sunday Times.

Pandya, who is chair of England’s foetal anomaly screening programme, was recommended to the NMH by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London.