'Door definitely unlocked' in maternity inquiry bid

A group of families harmed by poor maternity care say Health Secretary West Streeting is considering holding a national inquiry into maternity safety.

The parents of babies who were injured or died due to failings at maternity units say they "pulled apart" a plan he had outlined on how to improve care.

Following a meeting with Streeting on Tuesday, Dr Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet died in 2016 in Nottingham, said the "door is definitely unlocked" and more discussions would take place.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the secretary of state would continue to meet bereaved families across the country.

Talking about the meeting with Streeting, Dr Hawkins told the BBC: "He has been quite reluctant to order a national maternity safety.

"We got a very clear message that he is now considering that.

"The door is definitely unlocked. It's the only way we can improve what's going on."

Dr Hawkins' daughter Harriet was stillborn at Nottingham City Hospital after almost 41 weeks of pregnancy.

Hospital bosses initially found "no obvious fault" and the couple were told their child had died of an infection.

An external review of the case later found 13 failings and concluded the death was "almost certainly preventable."

In 2021, Dr and Ms Hawkins received a £2.8m settlement, believed to be the largest payout for a stillbirth clinical negligence case.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust is now at the centre of the largest maternity review in the history of the NHS, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, which is looking into about 2,500 individual cases.

On Monday, Streeting told a separate group of families that he intended to announce his maternity safety plan in a speech next Monday.

The BBC understands such a plan would include an improvement taskforce led by non-NHS officials, a buddying system between poorly performing and better trusts, and a restorative justice approach where hospitals and families would meet and vow to be open and honest.

"We were horrified by the plan, we took it apart," said Dr Hawkins.

"Everything in that plan has been tried before and we have all suffered at the hands of that.

"The people we say have caused a lot of the harm seem to be the main authors of it.

"We were heard [by Streeting]. He will not be going ahead with the plan as it stands."

A DHSC spokesperson said: "The secretary of state continues to meet with bereaved families from across the country to listen to their shocking experiences of poor care and to best understand how we can improve maternity services as swiftly as possible."

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