Maternity care scandal: inquiry delays risk 'perpetuating safety concerns', senior MP warns
Any delays to the Government’s maternity inquiry “risks perpetuating the very safety concerns the review seeks to address”, the chair of the Health and Social Care Committee has said.
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has written to Baroness Merron, the Minister for Women’s Health, requesting urgent clarification on the timetable of the probe by Dame Valerie Amos.
She said: “This delay risks raising serious concerns amongst both families and professionals that it will further postpone the actual delivery of desperately needed improvements to services.”
In September, Wes Streeting announced an urgent investigation into 14 NHS trusts by Dame Valerie, including Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
He praised bereaved families for showing “extraordinary courage” in coming forward, adding: “What they have experienced is devastating and their strength will help protect other families from enduring what they have been through.”
Since then, the Health Secretary has announced a separate inquiry into the Leeds trust, after a BBC investigation revealed the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers over the past five years may have been prevented.
Grieving parents in the West Yorkshire city said they felt gaslit, dismissed and even blamed for what went wrong.
The Health Secretary said he was “shocked” by their experiences of “repeated maternity failures in Leeds – made worse by the unacceptable response of the trust”.
When announcing the Amos Inquiry, Mr Streeting said he wanted to try and make it as swift as possible to tackle maternity issues that are still going on across the country.
However, now Ms Moran has raised “serious concerns” about the impact potential delays will have, including from yesterday’s resident doctors’ strikes.
In her letter, she said: “We are deeply concerned by reports that the independent maternity and neonatal investigation led by Baroness Amos will not publish interim findings this year as previously expected, and that the call for evidence has been delayed from November until January.
“While we recognise the potential impact of industrial action, further delays risk undermining
public confidence and perpetuating the very safety concerns the review seeks to address.
“The revised timetable also raises serious questions about whether evidence submitted by
families can be meaningfully analysed before the final report is published in the spring.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said it was “confident” Dame Valerie would update next month.
A spokesperson said the Government had already put in place measures to boost safety in maternity and neonatal care across England, with Mr Streeting chairing a special taskforce.
They said: “We are confident Baroness Amos will update in December on what she has heard so far and will continue to explore throughout the remainder of the investigation.
"We are committed to striking the right balance between responding with the necessary urgency to improve maternity care and ensuring we have the robust tools and information needed to do so effectively.
"We are taking urgent steps to improve maternity services and these changes from Baroness Amos will further strengthen our ability to deliver meaningful impact."