England is to appoint its first ever commissioner for maternity and neonatal care following a review that found persistent failings in services for women and babies.
The person who is appointed into the role will be tasked with pushing hospitals to improve care, investigating poor performance and trying to rebuild trust in maternity services across the NHS.
Health Secretary James Murray announced the plans following a government-commissioned review by Lady Valerie Amos, which found maternity care in England was ‘no longer fit’ to deliver safe care.
The report stated: ‘The maternity and neonatal system in England is no longer fit to consistently deliver high-quality, compassionate care to every woman and family, and requires urgent reform to put safety at its centre, embed a focus on listening to women and ensure anti-racist practice at every level.’
Mothers who spoke with Amos said they had been dismissed when raising concerns, ‘leading in some cases to avoidable harm or unsafe care’. What’s more, some women reported being denied pain relief, leaving them to suffer distress during a caesaren section or assisted vaginal birth.
Women of colour also experienced racism and discrimination, with the report citing ‘unfair or unequal treatment’, delays and, in some cases, unsafe care with ‘devastating outcomes’.
Lady Amos’s report is the second in less than a week to highlight failings in the country’s maternity and neonatal services. Last week, Donna Ockenden, who is widely expected to become the new commissioner, published the findings of her inquiry into the Nottingham maternity scandal.
‘I still find it shocking that women and babies have been harmed or have died, sometimes as a result of failings on the maternity and neonatal care provided,’ Amos said in her report. ‘We are a wealthy country. It should not happen.’
The new commissioner will work with the health secretary on the government’s national maternity and neonatal taskforce, which is drawing up an action plan to improve care due in December.
James Murray said Amos’s report would act as a ‘turning point’ in improving care. He said: ‘Appointing the UK’s first ever maternity and neonatal commissioners will drive lasting change and make sure women and families are never ignored again.’
Within her report, Amos made eight recommendations about how to improve maternity care, some of which include:
- The NHS’s ‘brutal’ system of agreeing compensation with harmed families should be replaces with a new scheme in which hospitals admit errors immediately
- Families should get the right to seek an independent investigation when things go wrong if they aren’t happy with their hospitals care
- Maternity triage services need an urgent overhaul, including more staff so that women’s concerns are acted on quicker
- The NHS must root out racism and discrimination that is ’embedded throughout the maternity and neonatal system’
Kate Brintworth, chief midwifery officer for England, welcomed the news of appointing a maternity commissioner. She said: ‘Too many women, babies and families have been harmed, bereaved or badly let down by maternity care, and too often women and families who raised concerns were not listened to.
‘This has to change. Women and families must be taken seriously when they say something is wrong, and staff must feel able to speak up when they are worried about safety.’
‘I know recent reports will be deeply worrying for women and families, but please continue to speak to your midwife or maternity team if you have any concerns,’ she continued. ‘They understand and want to make sure you have the care and support you need.’
Image: Jimmy Conover/UnSplash
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