The 14 NHS trusts that are to be examined in a national investigation into “failures” in NHS maternity care and neonatal services have been revealed by the government.
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting announced the rapid investigation in June this year in response to growing allegations of failures in maternity care across the country, going back more than 15 years.
In an announcement on Monday, the government confirmed the 14 trusts set to have their maternity and neonatal care scrutinised by Baroness Valerie Amos. They are:
- Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust
- Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Oxford University Hospital
- Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
- Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
- The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
- University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
- Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust / Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
The trusts have been chosen for investigation based on a range of factors, including the Care Quality Commission maternity patient survey, MBRRACE-UK perinatal mortality rates and family feedback.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust has already been the subject of an independent inquiry led by Donna Ockenden. Published in 2022, it found that catastrophic failures at the trust over two decades may have led to the deaths of more than 200 babies.
Ms Ockenden is currently leading an investigation into maternity failings at Nottingham University Hospitals Foundation Trust, which is looking into more than 2,500 cases of alleged poor care.
East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust was also subject to an independent inquiry by Bill Kirkup in 2022, which found that failings led to the deaths of 45 babies. Dr Kirkup also led a review of Morecambe Bay hospital maternity failings, which was published in 2015.
Leeds, Oxford, East Kent, Sandwell and West Birmingham, Blackpool, and Bradford hospital NHS trusts, told The Independent they welcomed the review and have been working hard to improve care.
Announcing the Amos review trusts, Mr Streeting said: “Bereaved families have shown extraordinary courage in coming forward to help inform this rapid national investigation alongside Baroness Amos.
“What they have experienced is devastating, and their strength will help protect other families from enduring what they have been through.
“I know that NHS maternity and neonatal workers want the best for these mothers and babies, and that the vast majority of births are safe and without incident, but I cannot turn a blind eye to failures in the system.”
Following her review, Baroness Amos will make national recommendations for maternity and neonatal care, with interim recommendations delivered in December 2025.
Baroness Amos said: “It is vital that the voices of mothers and families are at the heart of this investigation from the very beginning.
“Their experiences – including those of fathers and non-birthing partners – will guide our work and shape the national recommendations we will publish. We will pay particular attention to the inequalities faced by Black and Asian women and by families from marginalised groups, whose voices have too often been overlooked.”
When the government announced the review, it confirmed Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust would be included – both trusts have featured in media reports over alleged maternity failings.
Responding to the announcement, a campaign group of families from Leeds said they were promised conversations with the health secretary and Department for Health and Social Care over what the review should look like in Leeds, but were due to have the meeting this coming week.
They said: “Leeds families have been very clear with him, in multiple communications over the last year, and even since the national investigation announcement, that what is needed at Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust (LTHT) is a full independent inquiry into Maternity Services, to be led by Donna Ockenden.”
Rebecca Matthews, co-founder of a campaign group for families who say they were harmed by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust maternity services, said: “We are pleased and relieved to see OUH included in Baroness Amos’s review.”
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