Inquiry announced to investigate Leeds NHS maternity failings
Following potentially avoidable harm to babies and mothers, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has revealed an independent inquiry into repeated failures
at an NHS trust's maternity units. A BBC probe earlier this year revealed that the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH) over the past five years may have been prevented. Streeting said a thorough investigation was required to discover what had gone so tragically wrong
at the trust's maternity units at Leeds General Infirmary and St James' University Hospital. The trust told the BBC that it was already taking significant steps to address changes
in a tweet.
More than seven families who have expressed traumatic care have joined the BBC, with some of them dating back more than 15 years. Fiona Winser-Ramm and Dan Ramm's daughter, Aliona, died in January 2020 at Leeds General Infirmary, and they include Fion A number of gross mistakes
that directly contributed
to her death, according to an inquest. Amarjit Kaur and Mandip Singh Matharoo's daughter Asees was stillborn in the same hospital four years ago. Following the BBC's initial coverage, both families were among a group of bereaved Leeds families who wrote to Streeting, demanding an independent inquiry. They later shared their encounters with him in person before the investigation was revealed.
Amarjit said.We know we are not alone, and that there are other families who have lived with what we have,
We can't quite believe it yet,Fiona said.
she said.I think the scope of this probe will be huge. There are so many people who don't even know they are victims yet, and it is likely to snowball at a breakneck pace,
Streeting said he was shocked
by the bereaved families' stories and the repeated maternity failures
that were exacerbated by the trust's incoherent response.
I do agree there is an unusual occurrence in Leeds for a Nottingham-style independent inquiry into the failures," he said. The Nottingham University Hospitals Trustis is at the center of a national investigation into 2,500 cases of maternity misadmissions. Streeting said he hoped that the Leeds inquiry would help the families learn the truth about what went wrong in their care.
The Department of Health has not disclosed the inquiry's terms of reference or information about who will lead it. Families that have been bereaved are hoping for Donna Ockenden, the senior midwife who supervised the investigation into maternity deaths in Shrewsbury and Telford and is now leading the Nottingham investigation, to also chair the Leeds inquiry. Ms Ockenden, they said, had the confidence of families and demonstrated expertise in exposing systemic deficiencies in maternity care. The BBC has previously interviewed whistleblowers who said that the previous rating of good
for LTHmaternity services did not reflect the truth. After unannounced inspections raised questions that women and babies were at risk of avoidable harm,
the Care Quality Commission (CQC) downgraded both of the trust's maternity units to inadequate
in June. Inspectors also referred to a blame culture
at the trust, which resulted in employees' being reluctant to raise concerns and incidents.
The Leeds units are now part of a rapid national review of maternity and neonatal services across England, which was initiated in June and is being led by Baroness Valerie Amos. Brendan Brown, the chief executive of LTH NHS Trust, apologised to bereaved families and said he hoped the probe would bring them answers.
We are determined to do better,
Serious concerns about poor maternity care are now being answered by families, according to families. Sir Julian Hartley, the man in charge of the trust for ten years until 2023, should have known about inadequate maternity services. He's now in charge of England's health-care authority, the Care Quality Commission. Sir Julian said in a tweet that while he was Chief Executive of Leeds Trust, he ishe said. We want to work with the families who have used our services to learn about their lives in order to make lasting and lasting changes. Following recommendations by the Care Quality Commission and NHS England, I would also like to inform families in Leeds, who will be using our services soon, that we are already taking great strides to improve our maternity and neonatal services.
but that pledge was insufficient to prevent some families from suffering pain and loss. He said he wasfully committed to ensuring high patient care throughout all services, including maternity,
completely sorryfor this. Lauren Caufield, whose daughter, Grace Kilburn, died in 2022, and also met Streeting:
It is completely intolerablethat no action has been taken to date to look into Sir Julian Hartley's situation. We hope the inquiry will do that.
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