Health Secretary to investigate 'failing' NHS maternity service
Wes Streeting has launched a national investigation into maternity services across England which he describes as 'failing'.
Mr Streeting announced the initiative at the annual conference of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He said that hospitals, trusts and regulators are all failing, with too much 'passing the buck' when something goes wrong.
The investigation will specifically look at vital issues contributing to catastrophic failures in maternity safety, including lack of staff and specialised equipment across NHS trusts. It will also look at racial disparities inherent in maternity care, meaning black women are up to three times more likely to die during pregnancy or immediately after birth than white women.
The Government also announced that a national maternity and neonatal taskforce will be established, chaired by the health secretary and consisting of a panel of maternity experts and also bereaved families.
Ten trusts with the worst record of maternity safety will be the focus of the investigation.
During the RCOG conference, Mr Streeting apologised to families affected, saying 'all of them have had to fight for the truth and justice'.
So many of our clients feel that hospital trusts are simply not honest with them following serious negligence that too often ends in tragedy. The fight to get to the truth about what has caused a baby death or very serious injury compounds people's grief and often causes them to feel terrible guilt that something they did or did not do resulted in their baby dying.
They often tell us that their concerns are simply ignored. Often, serious failings only come to light following an internal hospital investigation that even then may not be fully communicated to the parents.
My job is to support every family that instructs me, to fight for the truth on their behalf and achieve justice for them. Most need the hospital trust to acknowledge the failings and to actually change systems and processes to prevent another family going through a similar tragedy.
Let's hope with this announcement the Government will follow through with promises to reestablish trust in our maternity services. Following terrible maternity scandals such as those at Nottingham, Shrewsbury and Telford and more recently Leeds, the public is understandably shocked. Rebuilding our faith in safe maternity care is an absolute priority.
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