Nine maternity deaths in Sussex including some in Brighton are to form part of a national review announced by the Health Secretary Wes Streeting today (Monday 23 June).
The news was welcomed by Hove couple Rob Miller and Katie Fowler whose two-day-old daughter Abigail Fowler Miller died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, in January 2022.
The hospital is run by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UH Sussex) which has been monitored as part of the Maternity Safety Support Programme since the same month – January 2022.
The trust was moved from the “improvement” phase of the programme to the “sustainability” phase last month, with a view to no longer requiring support from later this year.
After learning of the newly announced national review Abigail Fowler Miller’s father tweeted: “Wes Streeting has today announced an independent public review into nine recent baby deaths at UH Sussex.
“As a harmed family, part of this group, we welcome him listening to us and look forward to working closely on the specific elements of it soon.”
Mr Streeting said: “For the past year, I have been meeting bereaved families from across the country who have lost babies or suffered serious harm during what should have been the most joyful time in their lives.
“What they have experienced is devastating – deeply painful stories of trauma, loss and a lack of basic compassion – caused by failures in NHS maternity care that should never have happened.
“Their bravery in speaking out has made it clear: we must act – and we must act now.
“I know nobody wants better for women and babies than the thousands of NHS midwives, obstetricians, maternity and neonatal staff and that the vast majority of births are safe and without incident but it’s clear something is going wrong.
“That’s why I’ve ordered a rapid national investigation to make sure these families get the truth and the accountability they deserve and ensure no parent or baby is ever let down again.
“I want staff to come with us on this, to improve things for everyone.
“We‘re also taking immediate steps to hold failing services to account and give staff the tools they need to deliver the kind, safe, respectful care every family deserves.
“Maternity care should be the litmus test by which this government is judged on patient safety and I will do everything in my power to ensure no family has to suffer like this again.”
The Department of Health and Social Care said: “A rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services has been ordered by Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting.
“The rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services will provide truth to families suffering harm and urgently improve care and safety.
“It follows series of meetings between Secretary of State and bereaved families, with parents at heart of improving standards.
“It comes alongside package of immediate actions to boost accountability and safety as part of government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future
The department said that the review would address “systemic problems dating back over 15 years”.
It said: “This government inherited a situation where issues in maternity and neonatal care had been ongoing for some time and a series of independent reviews into local trusts had found similar failings in compassionate care – including the failure to listen to women, concerns over safety and issues with leadership and culture.
“The investigation will urgently look at worst-performing services in the country, but also across the entire maternity system, bringing together the findings of past reviews into one clear national set of actions to ensure every woman and baby receives safe, high-quality and compassionate care.
“Crucially, it will be co-produced with clinicians, experts and parents all feeding in, following a series of private meetings last week between the Secretary of State and families who have been harmed or bereaved by failures in their care.
“It will begin its work this summer and report back by December 2025.
“The investigation comes alongside a package of immediate actions to improve care, including greater intervention by the Secretary of State and NHS chief executive to hold failing trusts to account – a key step in delivering the government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future through the Plan for Change.
“The investigation will consist of two parts. The first will urgently investigate up to 10 of the most concerning maternity and neonatal units, including Sussex, to give affected families answers as quickly as possible.
“The second will undertake a system-wide look at maternity and neonatal care, bringing together lessons from past inquiries to create one clear, national set of actions to improve care across every NHS maternity service.
“The government is also today establishing a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – and to be made up of a panel of esteemed experts and bereaved families.”
NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said: “Despite the hard work of staff, too many women are experiencing unacceptable maternity care and families continue to be let down by the NHS when they need us most.
“This rapid national investigation must mark a line in the sand for maternity care – setting out one set of clear actions for NHS leaders to ensure high quality care for all.
“Transparency will be key to understanding variation and fixing poor care – by shining a spotlight on the areas of greatest failure we can hold failing trusts to account.
“Each year, over half a million babies are born under our care and maternity safety rightly impacts public trust in the NHS – so we must act immediately to improve outcomes for the benefit of mothers, babies, families and staff.”
University Hospitals Sussex maternity services have been inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) although the findings have not yet been published.
At a trust board meeting earlier this month, chief executive George Findlay said that the prospect of “exiting” the Maternity Safety Support Programme was “a significant step forward and very welcome recognition of the improvements made including the work with service users and staff”.
Dr Findlay added: “The team from (the Maternity Safety Support Programme) were so impressed with this work that we’ve been encouraged to share with other trusts in the programme.”
Today, the trust’s chief medical officer, Katie Urch, said: “There is no more important priority for us than the safety of everyone using our services and we will be fully supporting this investigation to help improve standards of maternity care in our units and across the NHS.”
