What is the Maternity Safety Alliance?
A group of families who have been affected by failures in maternity care from the NHS, and several organisations including Tommy’s and Sands, are campaigning for a full national statutory public inquiry into maternity safety in the NHS.
Several reviews into maternity safety have already taken place across the county, in East Kent, Morcambe Bay, Shrewsbury and Telford, and currently in Nottingham.
In September 2023, a CQC inspection report downgraded Leicester maternity services to “requires improvement”, and rated maternity safety at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital as “inadequate”.
What have other maternity reviews identified?
The reviews of maternity services that have already taken place have identified many of the same failings, including:
– Not listening to mums or birthing people, and / or birthing partners.
– Discouraging caesarean section deliveries and / or reluctance to intervene and perform a caesarean section delivery. This is described as “normal birth ideology”.
– Bullying and poor leadership within hospitals, maternity services, and teams. This creates a poor culture between staff that can impact patient safety.
– Criticism of regulatory bodies that are tasked with inspecting maternity services.
– Staff shortages.
What is the Maternity Safety Alliance asking for?
The Maternity Safety Alliance wants a national public inquiry into maternity safety in England because “it is time to recognise that maternity care in England is broken”. It was recently reported that the number of maternity units in the UK rated as “inadequate” or “requires improvement” for safety has increased from 54% to 65% in only 1 year.
The Maternity Safety Alliance is calling for a judge-led, full statutory public inquiry that will reach independent conclusions, which will help to save the lives and health of mums and babies.
What is Moosa-Duke Solicitors’ position?
We fully support the call for a national public inquiry into the safety of maternity services. Systemic failures in maternity care must be identified and addressed so that families are reassured that they will receive the best possible care at a time when they are at their most vulnerable.
We maintain that an independent inquiry is required into maternity services in Leicester, and across the country.
Leicester is one of the most diverse and multicultural cities in the UK. It is vital to continue investigating maternity safety at a local level to highlight factors that are relevant to those communities, such as in Leicester.
An independent inquiry is urgently needed in Leicester and will be of vital importance to any national inquiry undertaken, which will ensure that all communities’ voices are heard.
If you wish to pledge your support to the call for a national public inquiry into maternity safety, click here to go to the Maternity Safety Alliance website.
If you have concerns about the maternity care that you or a loved one has received, please contact us for a no-obligation consultation or call us on 0116 254 7456 or 0800 952 0010.