Leeds NHS boss welcomes national probe into maternity and neonatal care
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will be one of 14 hospital trusts in the UK included in a national investigation into maternity and neonatal services. The “rapid” investigation is being independently chaired by Baroness Amos, and aims to put families “at the heart of the work”.
The investigation will focus on understanding the experiences of women and families who have lost their baby or experienced inadequate care, identifying lessons leaned and ensuring the improvements needed to deliver safe and high-quality maternity and neonatal care across England.
Dr Magnus Harrison, Chief Medical Officer at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and St James’s Hospital amongst others, welcomed the government's announcement.
He said: “We welcome the inclusion of Leeds in the national maternity and neonatal investigation and fully support its focus on improving maternity and neonatal safety across the country.
“We recognise that we have not always delivered the highest quality of care to every family, and we are extremely sorry to the families who have lost their babies or had poor experiences when receiving care in our hospitals. Families will be at the heart of this national investigation, and we are fully supportive of this.
“We want to reassure families in Leeds that we have already taken significant steps to address improvements to our maternity and neonatal services since the publication of our recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports. However, we know there is still much more we can do.”
Following the investigation’s conclusion, Baroness Amos is expected to deliver a clear set of national recommendations to achieve consistently high-quality and safe maternity and neonatal care. Interim recommendations will be delivered in December 2025.
Dr Harrison added: “We look forward to working with other trusts and building on the improvement work which has begun.
“We are committed to working closely with the families who use our services, our staff, NHS England, and the CQC to ensure we provide the highest standards of care in our maternity services.”
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is asking parents, parents-to-be, and families who have any concerns about their experience at any of the Trust’s hospitals to contact their respective care teams. You can also contact the PALS team on 0113 206 6261 or email [email protected].