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Kingsley Napley’s Medical Negligence Team ‘walks together’ with the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity
Sharon Burkill
As the evidence of failing maternity services appears to be mounting, the Government is now pledging to prioritise improvements to maternity care as part of it’s womens health strategy for 2024.
The Secretary for Health and Social Care, Victoria Atkins, speaking at a Women’s Health Summit in London this month, detailed some of her own experiences of the NHS stating that she had seen some of its ‘darker corners', one of these being when she was pregnant.
She also referred to worrying recent data published by MBRRACE-UK (Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries) which reveals that maternal death rates in the UK have risen to the highest levels in 20 years.
The MBRRACE data further shows that the maternal death rate of women from black ethnic backgrounds remains almost three times greater than that of white women. Rates are also higher for those living in more deprived areas.
The Health Secretary pointed out that, although not all the deaths in the latest MBRRACE data will be linked to poor maternity care, ‘many will be. And this must stop'.
As part of the Government drive, she announced the creation of a ‘challenge’ fund of £50 million to tackle inequalities across maternity services.
Impact of staff shortages
This week’s BBC Panorama programme ‘Midwives under pressure’ has shone yet another spotlight on the problems within maternity services, focussing on the impact of staffing shortages and alleged cultural problems within the NHS. The programme detailed incidents within Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust but stressed that problems were countrywide.
Unfortunately, as a specialist birth injury solicitor, I am acutely aware of the difficulties being faced in maternity departments and how devastating the impacts can be. In response to the programme, Gill Watson, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), has published a statement calling on the Government to listen to staff working in, and women using, maternity services and to take action.
In it she says ‘we have heard too many stories and read too many reports all raising the same red flags around staff shortages, lack of training and concerns raised that are ignored by those in charge, yet still there is little progress.’
She also states: ‘Staffing shortages undoubtedly compromise safety, something that’s long been highlighted by the RCM, and by many reviews into failing maternity services.’
A public inquiry?
While there have been several independent investigations into maternity failures in the last decade, there are now calls for a statutory public inquiry into England’s maternity services. However, as matters stand, there are no published plans for such an inquiry.
Nonetheless, there is a current national strategy to improve maternity services and this includes independent investigations working closely with families and staff. At the present time all NHS Trusts are required to report certain patient safety incidents in maternity care to Maternity & Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) , now being run by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). MNSI carry out the independent investigations and make recommendations to improve services at both a local level and across the whole maternity healthcare system. They state clearly that they ‘do not place blame on individuals’.
At Kingsley Napley we represent the families of those affected by negligent care in maternity departments, including those whose babies have suffered a brain injury and those whose cases are being investigated by the MNSI. We seek to provide the highest level of support to our clients while navigating the often complex route through medical negligence claims for compensation. There are details of our work on our webpage here.
All things considered, we hope that the latest Government pledge to maternity services will lead to real change.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you have any questions, please contact James Bell in our Medical Negligence and Personal Injury team.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Bell is the head of our Medical Negligence and Personal Injury practice and joined the firm in 2023 from Hodge, Jones & Allen. He has undertaken medical negligence cases for over 20 years.
We welcome views and opinions about the issues raised in this blog. Should you require specific advice in relation to personal circumstances, please use the form on the contact page.
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