'The moment is now': Leeds maternity families respond to PM Andy Burnham's pledge
Leeds families affected by maternity care failings call on PM Andy Burnham to take immediate action following care review commitments
Parents and bereaved families affected by maternity and neonatal care failings in Leeds have welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s commitment to the independent review chaired by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.
Speaking on Hits Radio West Yorkshire on Friday (July 31), the new Prime Minister vowed to meet with families affected by the review into maternity and neonatal care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT).
Speaking on the radio station, he said: "We will not let what happened to you be forgotten, we will study what comes from the review in detail. I can commit now to meeting the parents when the moment is right to discuss what is in it and the action that will be taken as a result.
"We have had issues in maternity services, obviously in Leeds and across the country, for a long period. There will be some local issues that come through the review but also some structural issues too that need to be addressed.
"I will look at all of those things and I will be happy to meet to discuss the findings when they are published."
Responding to the PM, Leeds Maternity Families, a campaign group led by bereaved families in Leeds, said it welcomes Burnham’s recognition of the scale of the failings and his commitment to meet affected families.
“Every change in leadership brings the same promises. Words are a good start, but they must translate into immediate action,” the group said.
“He said he will meet families ‘when the moment is right’ – that moment is now, and what is needed is real engagement with bereaved and harmed families across the country.
“That starts with the commissioning of a national statutory public inquiry into maternity services, which takes maternity safety out of the political arena and into a legal one: with continuity, a proper framework, and a mechanism to expose the true scale of failures across the country and deliver accountability.”
A review into Leeds was ordered by then Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting in October 2025 following a string of damning investigations that revealed severe and systemic failings in maternity care at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's University Hospital.
Earlier this month, hundreds of bereaved and harmed families attended the first meeting with Ms Ockenden, who will lead the review into failings at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), and members of her team in Leeds city centre.
The meeting marked the start of the formal investigation, which will look at maternity care in Leeds over a 15-year period and could examine up to 3,000 cases.