Bereaved families to receive response on maternity from Health Secretary ‘very soon’

Wes Streeting met with a number of families in December, whose babies have died due to maternity failings – including Katie Fowler and Rob Miller, whose daughter Abigail died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in January 2022 after failings in maternity triage – and pledged to update them later that month about his plans to improve NHS maternity services nationally.

In a Parliamentary debate on the topic, Jess Brown Fuller MP highlighted that this pledge is now two months overdue, and called for a response for the babies who are “loved, missed and deserved better”.

In response Karin Smyth, Health and Social Care Minister, pledged an update was on its way.

“Families have waited long enough, but we do want to get this right and ensure any plans we do put out are as strong and effective as possible. Too many plans haven’t done that. Families will receive an update on next steps very soon,” she said.

Tom Rutland MP also specifically addressed the issues within University Hospitals Sussex, and the fact that a group of nine sets of parents whose babies have died in the Trust’s maternity services due to poor standards of care between 2021 and 2023 are leading the campaign for change.

The parent group has called for an inquiry that looks specifically at maternity services at hospitals within UHS – all of which are rated as inadequate or requires improvement – to ensure accountability for the “systemic failures”.

Speaking at the debate, Mr Rutland said the families have “had to endure the most tragic and unimaginable suffering as a result of having received inadequate care from the maternity services at UHS” and said that “the need is now and the urgency is clear” for change to be made.

“Behind each rating and category lies the devastating experiences of real people,” he said.

“There are a group of bereaved families in Sussex who no doubt wish they had no reason to know each other, having to come together to call for action to ensure no expectant parents endure what they went through.”

Responding to the debate, Katie Fowler said: "Karin Smyth MP said in her response to this debate that the Government knows "what needs to happen". If that is the case, why has it been more than two months since bereaved families met with Wes Streeting, with no update as to plans to improve this country's failing maternity services? Why have Donna Ockenden's Immediate & Essential Actions from Shrewsbury & Telford still not been implemented? Why have babies continued to die avoidably at UHS and other Trusts across the country despite Donna Ockenden and Bill Kirkup's reviews?

“If this Government knows how to fix maternity care, they should get on and do it. But there can be no fixing of this problem without understanding the roots and the scale of it. We don't know this - either locally or nationally - which is why we are calling for an independent review at UHS and a national inquiry into maternity services across the country.”

Nisha Sharma, principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon, acts for growing numbers of individuals and families who have experienced poor care from UHS.

“These families who met with Mr Streeting before Christmas are still waiting for a response – having met with them, listened to their stories and no doubt felt their pain, the need for him to act, and at the very least respond, should be of the highest priority,” she said.

“The need for action in maternity services has been urgent for far too long, and while it is good news that the Government want to get a viable and comprehensive plan in place, this is too important to wait. Wes Streeting himself has previously spoken of maternity services being his number one priority – and we need to see evidence of this through a strong and robust plan on maternity.”