The publication today of the final report from the Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos, has exposed widespread and avoidable failings in maternity and neonatal care across England, including at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.
The review was of maternity and neonatal services at 12 NHS trusts across England, and aimed to identify systemic issues affecting patient care.
The report highlights a range of recurring concerns including women not being listened to, staff shortages, inequality in the level of care given, leadership failings, and racism and discrimination within maternity services.
The report's findings are particularly concerning given that many of the issues identified, including women not being listened to and inequalities in care echo issues uncovered by Higgs in its 2024 women's health research. The research by Higgs highlighted the ongoing challenges women face in having symptoms recognised and treated appropriately.
The concerns raised in today's report extend far beyond maternity services and reflect wider issues across women's healthcare generally.
In line with today's announcement, individual Trust reports have also been published. Particularly, investigators at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust heard reports of widespread racism and discrimination, and witnessed an incident of racism during their review.
This particular report also highlighted concerns around neonatal outcomes where mortality rates exceeded that of comparable trusts by more than 5%.
Following the release of the Ockenden report last week that focused on one specific NHS Trust, the final report has now been published by the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos.
The Investigation conducted reviews of maternity and neonatal services in 12 NHS trusts, in order to identify systemic issues affecting services across England and to inform the development of the national recommendations.
Whilst such an investigation is welcome in order to improve NHS services and provide better care to patients, it is deeply concerning that the same failings are seen in multiple NHS Trusts across the country. I truly hope that these conclusions are acted upon in order to make a safer, efficient and more sustainable National Health Service.
Jordan Higgs
Associate
The report makes a number of recommendations including the creation of a statutory national Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner. It makes eight national recommendations aimed at delivering long-term cultural and systemic change across maternity and neonatal services.
The report also calls for action to address inequalities, improve patient safety, strengthen leadership and ensure that women and families are listened to throughout their care.
This latest report will no doubt further intensify scrutiny of maternity provision across England and raise more questions around why many of the same failings continue to emerge, despite repeated investigations and recommendations.
