Exclusive:Leeds maternity inquiry: Wes Streeting 'listening carefully' to bereaved families' requests over chair
Wes Streeting has said he is “listening very carefully to the representations” from bereaved families in Leeds for senior midwife Donna Ockenden to be chair of the maternity inquiry.
The Health Secretary said he did not want “to let them down” and that he was determined “we provide families with the answers they deserve and the accountability they deserve”.
Mr Streeting launched an inquiry into maternity failings in Leeds last year, following a protracted campaign from grieving families who lost babies in the city’s two maternity units.
A BBC investigation revealed the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers over the past five years may have been prevented.
The bereaved families have called for Ms Ockenden - who has been leading maternity reviews in Nottingham and Shrewsbury and Telford - to take charge of the West Yorkshire inquiry.
It was recently announced that police have opened a manslaughter investigation in Nottingham alongside Ms Ockenden’s review.
The Leeds bereaved families group said they would “not gamble on the appointment of someone with no experience chairing a maternity inquiry, particularly when Leeds is one of the largest trusts in Europe and a teaching hospital that should be setting a standard for exemplary care”.
“We stand firm in our position that Donna Ockenden should be appointed as chair of the Leeds Maternity Inquiry so that real truth, accountability, and change can be delivered,” they added.
Previously Mr Streeting has said the senior midwife will not be appointed as she has prior commitments.
However, he appeared to soften on this in an interview with The Yorkshire Post from Barnsley this week.
“I listened very carefully to their calls for an inquiry, reflected and then agreed,” he said.
“I’m listening very carefully to the representations they are making about the chair and the terms of reference.
“I really want to get this right, I don’t want to let them down.
“I don’t want to keep coming back to Leeds and meeting new families with new experiences, which should frankly be unimaginable in terms of failures with NHS care.”
Ms Ockenden herself has said she would be happy to expand her work to cover other parts of England.
The topic has been raised in the House of Commons, with Leeds MPs urging Sir Keir Starmer to back the senior nurse as chair.
The Prime Minister said: “I want to see the inquiry at Leeds start as soon as possible. We are working with bereaved families to shape our approach and to appoint a chair whom they can trust.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Donna Ockenden, who is an outstanding advocate for families.
“We will ensure that we select a chair of the highest standard who has the independence and expertise needed to deliver the real change that is needed.”
A launch date for the Leeds inquiry has yet to be set, but a separate review into maternity and neonatal care in England led by Baroness Valerie Amos is due to report in the spring and Mr Streeting acknowledged the problems were “widespread and endemic”.
Lady Amos has warned NHS maternity units are delivering “unacceptable care”, with some women left to “bleed out” in bathrooms and babies suffering avoidable deaths.
Mr Streeting is also in the process of setting up a maternity and neonatal taskforce.