Families to meet minister over maternity failings

Families affected by failings in maternity and neonatal services at a hospital trust in Leeds are to meet the health secretary later to discuss their concerns.

The Leeds Maternity Families Group will meet Yvette Cooper MP and government maternity adviser Michelle Welsh alongside Donna Ockenden, who is leading a review into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT).

The families said they welcomed the opportunity to speak about the "horrific failings" they experienced.

They have already met with Ockenden, who is chairing the inquiry into maternity units at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's University Hospital.

The inquiry comes after a BBC investigation revealed that the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers at LTHT over the past five years may have been prevented.

It was set up by then-health secretary Wes Streeting, who announced the inquiry after "repeated failures" over maternity services came to light.

Streeting said a thorough investigation was required to understand what had "gone so catastrophically wrong".

According to The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the review is expected to conclude by 2029 and will cover the delivery of maternity and neonatal care from 1 January 2011 until 31 March 2028 where mothers and babies have suffered "severe harm or death while under the care of LTHT".

Clinical case reviews are to begin in November.

The review will consider eight categories of "severe harm or death", the DHSC said, including stillbirths, maternal deaths – including by suicide – and some babies admitted to the neonatal unit.

The review will identify concerns over maternity and neonatal care at the trust and make recommendations to improve safety, quality and equity, the government said.

In a statement, the Leeds Maternity Families Group said they appreciated Cooper and Welsh reaching out to their group.

"Leeds families welcome the opportunity to speak directly with the health secretary and maternity advisor about the horrific failings they have endured at LTHT.

"The meeting will be an important chance for the health secretary to hear directly from affected Leeds families, and many are very keen to be present.

"It is very important to note that some people in the meeting are or were Yvette Cooper's own constituents or voters from Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, who put her in her position of power and whose children died on her doorstep.

"There is a double duty of care to her constituents as their local MP and as national health secretary."

They added: "Families hope the meeting will help with the inquiry and support calls for a statutory public inquiry to understand what has led to two thirds of maternity services requiring improvement or being inadequate in England."

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