Health secretary Wes Streeting has launched a national investigation into NHS maternity services after a string of scandals exposed a “crisis” in care.
The new rapid investigation will look at “systemic” failures in maternity and neo-natal units “up and down the country”, which are leaving women and babies at a “considerably higher” risk than they should be.
The probe will focus on the 10 “worst performing” maternity services in England in a bid to drive urgent improvements to safety for pregnant women and their babies, Mr Streeting said.
Experts have warned that too many women and babies are not getting the maternity care they deserve, with tragic outcomes.
Mr Streeting said he had met with families who had lost babies and had later been “gaslit” in their search for the truth. He pointed to “appalling scandals” in the past 15 years in Shrewsbury, Telford, East Kent, and Nottingham, which The Independent uncovered.
Apologising on behalf of the NHS for what families have been through, he said: “For the past year, I have been meeting bereaved families from across the country who have lost babies or suffered serious harm during what should have been the most joyful time in their lives.
“What they have experienced is devastating – deeply painful stories of trauma, loss, and a lack of basic compassion – caused by failures in NHS maternity care that should never have happened. Their bravery in speaking out has made it clear: we must act – and we must act now.
“I know nobody wants better for women and babies than the thousands of NHS midwives, obstetricians, maternity and neonatal staff, and that the vast majority of births are safe and without incident, but it’s clear something is going wrong.
“That’s why I’ve ordered a rapid national investigation to make sure these families get the truth and the accountability they deserve, and ensure no parent or baby is ever let down again. I want staff to come with us on this, to improve things for everyone.”
Speaking in east London at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) conference, he added: “It’s not just a few bad units. Up and down the country, maternity units are failing, hospitals are failing, trusts are failing, regulators are failing.
“There’s too much obfuscation, too much passing the buck and giving lip service.”
Mr Streeting said the government was also “taking immediate steps to hold failing services to account”.
“Maternity care should be the litmus test by which this government is judged on patient safety, and I will do everything in my power to ensure no family has to suffer like this again.”
He stopped short of launching a statutory public inquiry, despite it being the wish of some bereaved families, but said he would keep “that option open”.
Officials said that the investigation would examine the entire maternity system, including an urgent review into the worst-performing services.
It is expected that the investigation will report back by the end of the year.
Mr Streeting did not say how much the investigation would cost, but that he expected it would be “somewhat less” than the “enormous” amount paid out by the NHS in clinical negligence claims.
“Probably the most shocking statistic in this area is that we are paying out more in clinical negligence for maternity failures than we are spending on maternity services,” he said.
“That’s how bad things are. So, putting together a review team, undertaking the level of analytical work required to produce a really good, high-quality evidence-based report is a drop in the ocean compared to the price of failure.”
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it is also launching a “National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce”, which will be chaired by Mr Streeting.
Professor Ranee Thakar, president of the RCOG, said too many women and babies are not getting the maternity care they deserve, with tragic outcomes.
“The maternity workforce is on its knees, with many now leaving the profession,” she said.
“It is vital that the national review announced today is done quickly, builds on the evidence from previous maternity investigations and produces a definitive set of recommendations that galvanises action across the system.”
For years, maternity units had had too few staff and too little time for training, as well as a lack of modern equipment and facilities, she said.
“The route forward must include offering trusts, particularly the most challenged, the right support and tools to deliver safe and personalised care, and we urge the government not to lose sight of funding and workforce shortages within this.”
The Independent has been at the forefront of exposing scandals in maternity care in the NHS.
In 2020, an exposé by this publication found evidence of repeated poor care, spanning a decade, at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, with parents forced to fight to discover the truth about what happened to their children.
The investigation, with Channel 4, found 46 cases of babies who’d been left with permanent brain damage, 19 stillbirths and 15 deaths.
A major review was commissioned in July 2020. The review has since been superseded by a new independent review led by former senior midwife Donna Ockenden, who also led the flagship review into failures at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
Mr Streeting issues apology
Mr Streeting also apologised on behalf of the NHS for what families have been through.
The health secretary said he had met families in Nottingham and around the country whose children had died or been injured at birth.
He said: “All of them have had to fight the truth and justice, they describe being ignored, gaslit, lied to, manipulated and damaged further by the inability for a trust to simply be honest with them that something has gone wrong.
“I want to say publicly how sorry I am.
“Sorry for what the NHS has put them through; sorry for the way they’ve been treated since by the state and sorry that we haven’t put this right yet, because these families are owed more than an apology. They’re owed change; they’re owed accountability, and they’re owed the truth.”
Mr Streeting said the failure in maternity services had become “systemic”.
Midwives welcome review
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said that maternity services are “at, or even beyond, breaking point”.
RCM chief executive Gill Walton said: “Every woman and family should leave maternity and neonatal services whole, happy and healthy.
“Yet we know that, for far too many, that isn’t their experience.
“Systemic failings and a lack of attention to the warning signs have let those families down and let down the hardworking staff who are trying so hard to provide the care they deserve.
“Everyone involved in maternity services – the midwifery community, obstetricians, anaesthetists, sonographers and, of course, the women and families in their care – knows that maternity services are at, or even beyond, breaking point.
“This renewed focus and commitment by the health secretary to deliver change is welcome, and we will do everything we can to support him in doing so.”
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