The 14 hospital trusts which will be examined in a national investigation into \u201cfailures\u201d in NHS maternity and neonatal services have been named.<\/p>\n
Baroness Amos has been tasked to lead the investigation \u2013 with bereaved families at the heart of the work \u2013 to drive improvements after systemic problems in England\u2019s maternity and neonatal care dating back more than 15 years.<\/p>\n
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said bereaved families had shown \u201cextraordinary courage\u201d in coming forward, adding: \u201cWhat they have experienced is devastating and their strength will help protect other families from enduring what they have been through.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Baroness Amos is leading the investigation (PA)<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that NHS maternity and neonatal workers want the best for these mothers and babies, and that the vast majority of births are safe and without incident, but I cannot turn a blind eye to failures in the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single preventable tragedy is one too many. Harmed and bereaved families will be right at the heart of this investigation to ensure no-one has to suffer like this again.\u201d<\/p>\n
A range of services are to be put under the spotlight in the investigation which comes after various independent reviews across multiple trusts found failings including women\u2019s voices being ignored, safety concerns overlooked and poor leadership which has created toxic cultures.<\/p>\n
Health bodies called for support and transparency, saying there may be real anxiety among women, families and staff at the 14 selected trusts which are:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 Oxford University Hospital<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King\u2019s Lynn<\/p>\n
\u2013 University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust<\/p>\n
\u2013 Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust \/ Somerset NHS Foundation Trust<\/p>\n
Baroness Amos, who is to make national recommendations for improvements, said \u201cit is vital\u201d that the experiences of mothers and affected families are at the heart of the investigation from its \u201cvery beginning\u201d and are \u201cfully heard\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cTheir experiences \u2013 including those of fathers and non-birthing partners \u2013 will guide our work and shape the national recommendations we will publish.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will pay particular attention to the inequalities faced by black and Asian women and by families from marginalised groups, whose voices have too often been overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has called for urgency and support for staff and families. It also called on the review to make it easy for staff to raise their concerns.<\/p>\n
It should not be the case that, in 21st century Britain, black and Asian women are disproportionately more likely to die during childbirth or soon after, or that their babies are more likely to have poorer outcomesRoyal College of Midwives chief executive Gill Walton<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
RCM chief executive Gill Walton said it is \u201cimperative that this investigation gets unde rway at pace\u201d, adding: \u201cThis announcement will bring clarity but it will also bring fresh challenges for maternity staff at the trusts affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is vital that staff are supported through what will inevitably be a difficult process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this investigation was first announced it was described as a \u2018rapid review\u2019 that would report by December. It is vital this work gets under way quickly so that the families who have suffered unimaginable harm get the answers they need and hard-pressed maternity staff get the support and investment they\u2019ve been calling for. \u201d<\/p>\n
It is vital that the review process now brings everyone together with compassion, a commitment to transparency and appropriate supportRanee Thakar, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
She added: \u201cIt should not be the case that, in 21st century Britain, black and Asian women are disproportionately more likely to die during childbirth or soon after, or that their babies are more likely to have poorer outcomes. The RCM is pleased that this investigation will address this, alongside the inequalities facing women from deprived backgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: \u201cIt is vital that the review process now brings everyone together with compassion, a commitment to transparency and appropriate support.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many women and babies are not getting the safe, compassionate care they deserve and the maternity workforce is on its knees, with staff leaving the profession.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rory Deighton, director of the acute network at the NHS Confederation, said it is \u201cvital that we learn from failings in maternity services so that care can be made safer for all women and babies\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cNHS leaders and their teams work very hard to keep mothers and their babies safe but accept that there needs to be improvements in maternity services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are ongoing challenges around safety, equity and staffing shortages and this inquiry presents an important opportunity to support front-line maternity services to improve where needed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 14 hospital trusts which will be examined in a national investigation into \u201cfailures\u201d in NHS maternity and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-425075","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115205729481205525","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}