‘The lives of mums, babies and families depend on it’: families call for national inquiry into maternity care

Posted: 16/11/2023

The Maternity Safety Alliance (MSA) has written to the (now former) Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, requesting a statutory public inquiry into maternity safety throughout England.

Since the letter was published on 31 October 2023, Victoria Atkins has been appointed Health Secretary in the latest Cabinet reshuffle, and the MSA has requested a meeting with her.

The MSA is a group made up of the families of babies who have died or been injured while under NHS care, along with maternity safety campaigners. The aim of the requested inquiry would be to understand the scale of maternity care failings across the country, establish the reasons behind the failings, and work out how to improve.

The MSA stated in its letter that ‘the lives of mums, babies and families depend on it’, adding that ‘despite the efforts of many people over many years and a series of local investigations, not much has changed – and the latest data shows that more mums and babies are dying’.

This comes in the wake of several investigations and concerns relating to different hospital trusts across the UK:

• the Morecambe Bay investigation in 2015 found that seriously dysfunctional care caused the deaths of mothers and babies at Furness General Hospital;
• in 2019 Cwm Taf Health Board was placed into special measures following an investigation undertaken by the Royal College of Obstetricians and the Royal College of Midwives;
• a review into the maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust concluded in 2022 that the trust failed to safeguard mothers and their babies, leading to the deaths of more than 200 babies;
• an independent review into East Kent Hospitals Trust in 2022 found that dozens of babies and mothers died or were injured due to failings in their care;
• a current investigation into failings in maternity care at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will be the largest yet carried out in the UK;
• a public inquiry will be held into the murders and attempted murders of babies by nurse Lucy Letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;
• on 20 October 2023 the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported that two-thirds of maternity units are inadequate or require improvement for safety (up from 55% last year); and
• the BBC reported on 16 November 2023 that maternity units now have the poorest safety ratings of any hospital service the CQC inspects.

The MSA has stated that the piecemeal approach to investigating individual trusts is not effective and a national inquiry is needed. The Royal College of Midwives responded to the MSA, stating that it shared its frustration at the pace of progress in maternity safety, adding that many improvements recommended following these investigations were ‘yet to be implemented, or are being implemented inconsistently’. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists also responded, noting that improvements had been made, but commenting that some mothers and babies were ‘still not receiving safe, high-quality care’.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said that the government has invested £165 million per year since 2021 into improving maternity and neonatal services, and that the CQC was currently inspecting all NHS maternity services that have not been inspected since April 2021.

Victoria Johnson, associate in the clinical negligence team at Penningtons Manches Cooper, comments: “When parents of babies who have suffered life changing injuries, or who have lost babies, ask us to investigate a clinical negligence claim, they often say that they want lessons to be learnt that will prevent the same thing happening to another family.

“The loss of even one baby is a tragedy. When the same issues keep arising at different hospital trusts, this does suggest that a national inquiry is needed so that conclusions can be drawn, and improvements made across the country to ensure that mothers and babies are safe.”

If you have concerns regarding care provided during childbirth or the neonatal period, please contact us on freephone 0800 328 9545, email clinnegspecialist@penningtonslaw.com or complete our online assessment form.

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