Exclusive:Wes Streeting has 'not spoken to' Donna Ockenden since announcing Leeds maternity inquiry

The senior midwife reiterated to this paper that she is ready and willing to lead the Leeds investigation after she issues her final report on maternity failings in Nottingham in June.

That inquiry has led to Nottinghamshire Police opening a corporate manslaughter investigation into the NHS trust, and part of the reason why she is the Leeds’ families’ choice to chair their probe.

Last October, Mr Streeting announced a specific inquiry into maternity failings in Leeds, after a campaign from the grieving parents.

A BBC investigation revealed the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers over the past five years may have been prevented, while legal firm Irwin Mitchell is representing more than 30 families in action against the trust.

However, the bereaved families’ calls for Ms Ockenden to take charge of the West Yorkshire inquiry, have been rebuffed by Mr Streeting, who previously said the senior midwife is otherwise engaged.

After a meeting in October, the families said they believed the Health Secretary would speak to Ms Ockenden about her availability.

However, she has now revealed that she has not spoken to Mr Streeting about the Leeds inquiry at all.

It is understood that Ms Ockenden has met the Department of Health and Social Care’s maternity policy director to discuss the crisis in West Yorkshire, but not the Health Secretary.

This is despite repeated calls from the bereaved families and Yorkshire MPs, including in Prime Minister’s Questions, for Ms Ockenden to be announced as chair.

She told this paper she is ready to take on the Leeds inquiry as her final report into Nottingham will be published in June, and she only has a “very small ongoing commitment” to Shrewsbury, another maternity service that she has probed.

Ms Ockenden said the latter trust was in a “much more positive place”, and added that she was “absolutely committed to the ongoing development of relationships with a wide range of families”.

This comes ahead of a meeting between the bereaved families and Mr Streeting at the Department for Health and Social Care on Monday.

Before that, several parents told The Yorkshire Post they had lost faith in the Health Secretary over his failure to appoint Ms Ockenden, with one even accusing him of “gaslighting” them.

Bereaved father Dan Winser-Ramm said: “Our concerns at the moment are that this inquiry is being set up to minimise the scope, the scale and the scandal that will come up.”

Mr Streeting said: “I want to say directly to the families in Leeds: I hear you, and I take your concerns extremely seriously.

“Losing a baby is devastating beyond words, and you deserve not just answers, but a process you can trust.

“I know that trust has been damaged, and I will work with families to rebuild confidence and ensure this inquiry delivers the truth they deserve.

“The strength and dignity these families have shown, while carrying unimaginable grief shows extraordinary courage. I am personally committed to ensuring this inquiry is thorough, independent, and puts families at its heart.”

Fiona Winser-Ramm is one of the bereaved parents who will meet Mr Streeting on Monday. Her daughter Aliona died less than half an hour after she was born in 2020, and the inquest found “a number of gross failures … directly contributed” to her death.

She said yesterday: “In relation to the quotes given to the Yorkshire Post by the Health Secretary claiming that he has heard us and is reflecting on our points, we hope that those words are genuine and not yet more empty promises.

“Our expectation is that he is going to tell us what we deserved to hear on Monday, which is announcing Donna Ockenden as chair.”

Leeds Central and Headingley MP Alex Sobel added: “The level of neonatal deaths at Leeds is a scandal and it’s right the Government has given Leeds its own inquiry. We now need to ensure parents have confidence in the inquiry.”