One family who told the BBC they believe their child would have survived had they received better treatment is Amarjit Kaur and Mandip Singh Matharoo, whose baby was stillborn in January 2024.
The CQC report highlights “how inadequate the service is, which leads to patient harm”, they told us.
“Unfortunately, it’s too little too late for our daughter Asees and us, but we hope that this will trigger serious change within the system and take the concerns of patients using the service more seriously.”
Fiona-Winser Ramm, whose daughter Aliona died in 2020 after what an inquest found to be a number of “gross failures”, described the CQC’s findings as “horrific”.
“The concerns we have been raising for five years have been proved true,” she says.
But she believes the CQC has been slow to act.
“The CQC inspected Leeds in 2023 and somehow rated them as being good. Let’s be clear these problems haven’t just appeared in the last two years, they are systemic.”
In response, the CQC said the 2023 inspection had been part of a national maternity inspection programme focussing specifically on safety and leadership, which found some areas for improvement, but also identified some good practice.
“As the independent regulator we are committed to ensuring our assessments of the quality and safety of all services are accurate and reflect the experiences of the people that use them,” added Ann Ford.