The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has launched a national investigation into “systemic” failures in NHS maternity services in England saying “maternity units are failing, hospitals are failing, trusts are failing, regulators are failing” and there was “too much passing the buck”.
Speaking at the Royal College of Gynaecologists’ annual conference on Monday, Streeting said the inquiry would urgently look at the worst-performing services in the country as well as the entire maternity system.
The investigation, due to conclude by December, will look at up to 10 of the most concerning maternity and neonatal units in order to give bereaved and affected families answers about what happened during their care.
Streeting did not say how much the investigation would cost but that he expected it would be “somewhat less” that the “enormous” amount paid out by the NHS in clinical negligence claims.
Speaking to press after his keynote speech, he said: “There are some variables that we are still working out with families in terms of what the team looks like, what the terms of reference are and how it will work. I suspect it will be somewhat less than the enormous costs we pay in clinical negligence claims.
“Probably the most shocking statistic in this area is that we are paying out more in clinical negligence for maternity failures than we are spending on maternity services.”
The government also said on Monday a national maternity and neonatal taskforce, chaired by the health secretary and with a panel of maternity experts and bereaved families, would be established.
The announcement of an independent review of maternity services across England had been looking increasingly likely after a series of high-profile failures in maternity care seen across several NHS trusts.
In February, Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust (NUH) was fined £1.6m after admitting it failed to provide safe care and treatment to three babies who died within months of one another.
The Ockenden review, published in 2022, investigated 1,862 maternity cases at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS trust, finding that hundreds of babies died or were seriously disabled due to mistakes made at the trust.
During his keynote address at the conference, the health secretary publicly apologised to the families who were affected by these failures.
He said: “All of them have had to fight the truth and justice, they describe being ignored, gaslit, lied to, manipulated and damaged further by the inability for a trust to simply be honest with them that something has gone wrong. I want to say publicly how sorry I am.
Streeting added: “Sorry for what the NHS has put them through; sorry for the way they’ve been treated since by the state and sorry that we haven’t put this right yet, because these families are owed more than an apology. They’re owed change; they’re owed accountability and they’re owed the truth.”
The RCOG welcomed the inquiry, stating that as the state of maternity care stood “too many women and babies are not getting the safe, compassionate maternity care they deserve, with tragic outcomes that are devastating families”.
Prof Ranee Thakar, the president of the RCOG, said: “It is vital that the national review announced today is done quickly, builds on the evidence from previous maternity investigations and produces a definitive set of recommendations that galvanises action across the system. The RCOG is committed to working with the government and our members to achieve this.
“We support the health and social care secretary’s commitment to bring women and families, maternity staff and local NHS leaders together to set the path towards lasting improvements. By acknowledging where things have gone wrong, and learning from this, we can rebuild a compassionate maternity system that provides world-class care.”
Sir Jim Mackey, the chief executive of NHS England, 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.”