The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has recently announced an urgent review into the 10 worst performing maternity units in England, including Leeds, Sussex, Gloucester and Mid and South Essex.

During a speech at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists World Congress, he acknowledged the problem to be systemic, referred to the NHS maternity and neonatal services being in a ‘crisis’, and that he had decided to launch the urgent review following meetings with families who had lost babies due to inadequate care.

The aim is to provide trust and accountability to impacted families and drive urgent improvements to care and safety, with there being a package of immediate actions including greater intervention by the Secretary of Sate and NHS Chief Executive to hold failing Trusts to account.

Recent CQC data shows that more than half of England’s maternity wards are classified as ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’, and the Royal College of Midwives calculate that England is short of around 2,500 midwives. This had led to 65% of the NHS Clinical Negligence budget being solely spent on maternity and neonatal claims, one of these being a £1.6 million fine issued to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The review will also involve a thorough look into the system and previous inquiries, and will involve the victims of maternity scandals, especially those in Leeds and Sussex. It will also establish a national maternity and neonatal task force, including experts, NHS staff and campaigners. The review is expected to begin in summer 2025 and be completed by the end of the year.

Sir Jim Mackey, the Chief Executive at NHS England, said:

‘Despite the hard work of staff, too many women are experiencing unacceptable maternity care, and families continue to be let down by the NHS when they need us most.

This rapid national investigation must mark a line in the sand for maternity care – setting out one set of clear actions for NHS leaders to ensure high-quality care for all.

Transparency will be key to understanding variation and fixing poor care – by shining a spotlight on the areas of greatest failure we can hold failing trusts to account. Each year, over half a million babies are born under our care and maternity safety rightly impacts public trust in the NHS – so we must act immediately to improve outcomes for the benefit of mothers, babies, families and staff.’

Our Clinical Negligence department has assisted many families in obtaining compensation concerning avoidable birth injuries, including:

• Brain injuries suffered at birth
• Brachial plexus/Erbs Palsy suffered at birth
• Stillbirth/neonatal deaths
• Maternal injury/death

If you or a loved one have suffered harm as a result of maternity care, please get in touch with our friendly and experienced Clinical Negligence Department on 01482 323697 to discuss how we can help.