NHS maternity scandal victims feel 'sidelined, ignored and retraumatised' over review delays
Victims of NHS maternity failings said they have been “sidelined, ignored and retraumatised” after it emerged a national review of neonatal care has been delayed.
Families have raised “significant concerns” about what the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation (NMNI) “can and will achieve”, and warned it risks becoming “an exercise in reassurance” for the health service instead of offering scrutiny and challenge.
There have also been fresh calls for a full statutory public inquiry into maternity services in England.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting ordered the rapid review into “failures” in neonatal care in England in September and appointed Baroness Valerie Amos to lead the probe. It will focus on 12 NHS trusts.
Since then, the Health Secretary has announced a separate inquiry into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS 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.
It has now emerged that a call for evidence, set to launch this month, has been pushed back to January, with some site visits also postponed until the new year.
A spokesperson for the NMNI said the move will allow it to “properly take on board family feedback”.
However, the Maternity Safety Alliance, a group comprising families whose babies died as a result of hospital failings, said: “It is now clear that the Amos review has become an exercise in reassurance for NHS maternity services, when what is needed is scrutiny and challenge.
“Furthermore, Amos and her team continue to say they are listening to harmed and bereaved families while doing the opposite – we have been variously sidelined, ignored and retraumatised, while being subjected to broken promises, lies and exploitative processes.
“Maternity services are in crisis, with negligent care killing or seriously injuring another baby every few hours.
“Streeting’s response – to commission a review staffed by conflicted NHS insiders and taking only a cursory glance at the system – is wholly inadequate and extremely damaging. He must now order a full statutory public inquiry without any further delay.”
Baroness Amos will publish her initial reflections on what she has heard so far in December, along with plans for the next phase of the probe. The final report is expected to be published in spring 2026.
The NMNI spokesperson added: “This is in line with the timescales set out in the original terms of reference for the independent investigation and reiterated in correspondence sent to families last month.
“All of the evidence provided by families will be taken into account as part of the final report in the spring.”
A Department of Health and Social Care Spokesperson said: “We are taking urgent steps to improve maternity services and are confident Baroness Amos’s investigation will deliver meaningful impact.
“The review will identify ways to urgently improve care and safety, and Baroness Amos is working closely with families to gather evidence which will inform the review’s recommendations.”