Lords Statement on the independent review of maternity services at Nottingham University hospitals NHS trust.

Lords Statement on the independent review of maternity services at Nottingham University hospitals NHS trust.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the opportunity to ask questions on this Statement on the report, which raises many troubling issues. I add my thanks to Donna Ockenden and her team for their extraordinary work in conducting what has been the largest review of maternity services in the...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for the opportunity to ask questions on this Statement on the report, which raises many troubling issues. I add my thanks to Donna Ockenden and her team for their extraordinary work in conducting what has been the largest review of maternity services in the...

My Lords, the Statement before us today from the Secretary of State in the other place is distressing reading, as is the report by Donna Ockenden. This review shocks us all to the core and must shake the Government into real action at every level of our health service and...

My Lords, the Statement before us today from the Secretary of State in the other place is distressing reading, as is the report by Donna Ockenden. This review shocks us all to the core and must shake the Government into real action at every level of our health service and...

My Lords, we find ourselves deeply affected, as we have heard from both Front Benches. I am grateful for the tone and for the acknowledgement of the experiences of bereaved and harmed families who are at the absolute centre of this. The noble Baroness, Lady Pidgeon, said that she could...

My Lords, we find ourselves deeply affected, as we have heard from both Front Benches. I am grateful for the tone and for the acknowledgement of the experiences of bereaved and harmed families who are at the absolute centre of this. The noble Baroness, Lady Pidgeon, said that she could...

This is the most appalling thing that has happened. I have great respect for the Minister, and I thank her for letting us know about some of the action plans going ahead. What has gone wrong with a profession where the professionals have seemingly no empathy for those they are...

This is the most appalling thing that has happened. I have great respect for the Minister, and I thank her for letting us know about some of the action plans going ahead. What has gone wrong with a profession where the professionals have seemingly no empathy for those they are...

I certainly agree. Every woman, in the case of maternity services, deserves safe and compassionate maternity care. That is why we are so determined to drive urgent improvements in maternity services. It is worth noting that this review—the largest ever of its kind, as the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, said—considered...

I certainly agree. Every woman, in the case of maternity services, deserves safe and compassionate maternity care. That is why we are so determined to drive urgent improvements in maternity services. It is worth noting that this review—the largest ever of its kind, as the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, said—considered...

My Lords, to continue this theme, the report describes a bullying and toxic culture, with junior midwives not being sufficiently supported when dealing with complex cases. It was a culture that did not allow them to refer such cases up the chain. There was a constant turnover in senior midwifery...

My Lords, to continue this theme, the report describes a bullying and toxic culture, with junior midwives not being sufficiently supported when dealing with complex cases. It was a culture that did not allow them to refer such cases up the chain. There was a constant turnover in senior midwifery...

My noble friend’s analysis is quite right. One of the reasons we are developing an anti-discrimination programme is that cultural change across maternity and neonatal services is much needed.

I use that as one example; all NHS trusts are to have completed that programme by 2027, and that is already...

My noble friend’s analysis is quite right. One of the reasons we are developing an anti-discrimination programme is that cultural change across maternity and neonatal services is much needed.

I use that as one example; all NHS trusts are to have completed that programme by 2027, and that is already...

The Ockenden report does a great job in looking at the problems in one specific trust. However, the problems go much deeper, as the Minister has said. It is cultural, and one of the cultural problems appears to be that there is a complete split between a contingent of midwives...

The Ockenden report does a great job in looking at the problems in one specific trust. However, the problems go much deeper, as the Minister has said. It is cultural, and one of the cultural problems appears to be that there is a complete split between a contingent of midwives...

The key is to bring together the recommendations from Donna Ockenden’s report with the independent report that we established, chaired by my noble friend Lady Amos, which will report on Wednesday, as well as the reviews from before. I do not think we necessarily need a description of the problem...

The key is to bring together the recommendations from Donna Ockenden’s report with the independent report that we established, chaired by my noble friend Lady Amos, which will report on Wednesday, as well as the reviews from before. I do not think we necessarily need a description of the problem...

My Lords, as we know, this horrific failure is not confined to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. A number of other NHS trusts are being investigated, and I suspect it goes much further. Neither is this a problem of just the last 13 years; it goes back decades.

Forty years ago,...

My Lords, as we know, this horrific failure is not confined to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. A number of other NHS trusts are being investigated, and I suspect it goes much further. Neither is this a problem of just the last 13 years; it goes back decades.

Forty years ago,...

I am so very sorry to hear of the noble Baroness’s experience; I am grateful to her for sharing it with your Lordships’ House. I am sure we all offer our condolences and understanding as far as we can to support her and her family, and I say how sorry...

I am so very sorry to hear of the noble Baroness’s experience; I am grateful to her for sharing it with your Lordships’ House. I am sure we all offer our condolences and understanding as far as we can to support her and her family, and I say how sorry...

My Lords, I welcome the report and thank my noble friend the Minister for all the work she is doing with the Secretary of State to support and to implement recommendations. Our thoughts are with the families affected. The report has yet again shown the racial bias in care, which...

My Lords, I welcome the report and thank my noble friend the Minister for all the work she is doing with the Secretary of State to support and to implement recommendations. Our thoughts are with the families affected. The report has yet again shown the racial bias in care, which...

It is absolutely crucial, as my noble friend says, that the training should reflect the needs of the care that will be given. That is something that I know the taskforce will look at very closely. Donna Ockenden’s report offers insight and recommendations on workforce and training. The noble Baroness,...

It is absolutely crucial, as my noble friend says, that the training should reflect the needs of the care that will be given. That is something that I know the taskforce will look at very closely. Donna Ockenden’s report offers insight and recommendations on workforce and training. The noble Baroness,...

My Lords, building on the Minister’s comments on the maternal care bundle, which was introduced because Black women are 2.3 times more likely to die in childbirth, this report also confirms that, in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, infant mortality rates were significantly higher for Black and Asian women. In the report,...

My Lords, building on the Minister’s comments on the maternal care bundle, which was introduced because Black women are 2.3 times more likely to die in childbirth, this report also confirms that, in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, infant mortality rates were significantly higher for Black and Asian women. In the report,...

The noble Baroness is right to refer to the report undertaken by the Lords committee, which I was pleased to be invited to appear before. It is

true that there is a complexity. Outcomes also vary between trusts. There are a lot of potential reasons, but “potential” is not good...

The noble Baroness is right to refer to the report undertaken by the Lords committee, which I was pleased to be invited to appear before. It is

true that there is a complexity. Outcomes also vary between trusts. There are a lot of potential reasons, but “potential” is not good...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister and the Secretary of State for their hard work, shining a light on the inadequacies in maternity services in this country. My question is more general. The Minister referred to the coming Hillsborough law—one would hope in the next Session—which will...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister and the Secretary of State for their hard work, shining a light on the inadequacies in maternity services in this country. My question is more general. The Minister referred to the coming Hillsborough law—one would hope in the next Session—which will...

I will be pleased to raise that with my ministerial colleague in the Cabinet Office. I agree that an oversight mechanism is very important. On the Bill—which will, of course, become an Act—it is key to note that it will establish a new duty of candour and assistance at inquiries,...

I will be pleased to raise that with my ministerial colleague in the Cabinet Office. I agree that an oversight mechanism is very important. On the Bill—which will, of course, become an Act—it is key to note that it will establish a new duty of candour and assistance at inquiries,...

My Lords, I align myself with the comments that have been made by the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, and the noble Baroness, Lady Pidgeon. This a totally devastating outcome. I pay tribute to the families that have been affected in this way.

I am just absolutely disturbed by the quality of...

My Lords, I align myself with the comments that have been made by the noble Lord, Lord Kamall, and the noble Baroness, Lady Pidgeon. This a totally devastating outcome. I pay tribute to the families that have been affected in this way.

I am just absolutely disturbed by the quality of...