Health Secretary announces inquiry into NHS maternity services
The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has today (23 June 2025) announced a ‘rapid’ national inquiry into NHS maternity services in England.
Posted on 23 June 2025
The inquiry will look at worst-performing maternity services in the country, as well as the wider maternity system, to create a national set of actions to ensure maternity care is safe and compassionate.
The announcement follows a series of Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports into maternity and neonatal care at individual NHS trusts which have identified significant shortfalls in the standard of care provided to mothers and their babies.
Last week, the care watchdog downgraded maternity services at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’ Hospital in Leeds to ‘inadequate’ following reports that the deaths of 56 babies and two mothers at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust may have been preventable. The CQC found that mothers and their babies at the Trust were “at risk of avoidable harm”.
The inquiry will consist of two processes that will investigate up to 10 of the ‘most concerning’ maternity and neonatal units whilst undertaking a wider assessment of maternity and neonatal care to create a set of actions to improve the standard of care across the NHS. The inquiry is expected to report back by December 2025.
Alongside the inquiry, the Department of Health and Social Care has announced a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which will be made up of a panel of experts and bereaved families.
In a statement, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "For the past year, I have been meeting bereaved families from across the country who have lost babies or suffered serious harm during what should have been the most joyful time in their lives.
“What they have experienced is devastating – deeply painful stories of trauma, loss, and a lack of basic compassion – caused by failures in NHS maternity care that should never have happened. Their bravery in speaking out has made it clear: we must act – and we must act now.”
Head of medical negligence at Leigh Day, Suzanne White said: "Our clients have been telling us for years that maternity services are in crisis. Independent reports have highlighted alarming failures in a number of NHS Trusts that have been deemed to be putting the lives of mothers and their babies at risk.
"Standards of care on maternity units must improve, and we hope this inquiry can be that catalyst for change.
"Sadly, for our clients this inquiry comes too late, but we hope their voices will be listened to so that no other family has to face the devastating trauma and loss they have experienced as a result of poor maternity care."
Baby Emmy Russo died aged three days from a severe brain injury on 12 January 2024 at Addenbrookes’ Hospital, Cambridge, after being transferred from Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex. A coroner concluded there were missed opportunities to expedite delivery by caesarean section, and had an earlier decision been made, on the balance of probabilities, Emmy would have survived.
The inquest heard that signs of foetal distress, including the presence of meconium and abnormal heart rate patterns on a CTG monitor, were not acted on with the urgency required. Expert medical witnesses criticised delays in decision-making, with one concluding there were “multiple opportunities” to offer delivery by caesarean and that the management of labour fell below an acceptable standard.
Bryony and Daniel Russo, Emmy’s parents, had pleaded for a caesarean section earlier in the day - requests that were reportedly dismissed. Emmy was eventually delivered in poor condition at Princess Alexandra Hospital and died in her father’s arms three days later.
Bryony Russo said:
"This inquiry is long overdue, but it is a vital and necessary step. Nothing will bring our baby girl Emmy back, and the pain of losing her in such a preventable way is something we carry every single day. But if our loss - and the losses of so many other families - can lead to meaningful change, then we owe it to our children to speak out.
"We were failed by a system that should have protected us. We trusted that our concerns would be listened to, that action would be taken when things started to go wrong. Instead, we were dismissed, ignored, and left to watch our baby suffer the consequences.
"The fact that Essex is reported to be one of the trusts being investigated speaks volumes. Families here have been raising the alarm for years. Now, the government must make sure this inquiry leads to real accountability, real transparency, and real reform - not more words, but actual change. No more families should have to endure what we have been through."
On 15 September 2025, the government announced 14 NHS hospital trusts would be made the focus of the national investigation.
The trusts were chosen on a range of factors including data and metrics such as the Care Quality Commission maternity patient survey, and MBRRACE-UK perinatal mortality rates.
The 14 NHS trusts are:
- Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust
- East Kent Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust
- Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Oxford University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
- The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
- The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
- University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
- Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust / Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
Following the announcement, the family of Laura-Jane Seaman, a mother who died in December 2022, provided a statement.
"We, the family of Laura-Jane Seaman, a beloved mother of five who tragically died under the care of Broomfield Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, express our deep distress and disappointment that the Trust responsible for Laura-Jane’s care has not been included in the national maternity and neonatal services investigation led by Baroness Valerie Amos.
"This investigation, announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, is a vital step toward addressing systemic failures in maternity care across England. It aims to place bereaved families at the heart of its work, acknowledging their experiences and ensuring that lessons are learned to prevent future tragedies. Yet, despite the stated commitment to inclusivity and transparency, our family feels overlooked and excluded from a process intended to ensure that Trusts are properly held to account.
"The omission of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust from the list of 14 selected Trusts is deeply concerning, particularly given the circumstances surrounding Laura-Jane’s death and the serious questions that were raised at the Inquest into her death about the quality and safety of care provided. Laura-Jane was a loving mother of five, and her death was found by Area Coroner, Sonia Hayes, to have been avoidable and contributed to by neglect. We have lived with the pain of losing her every day, and we have been fighting to make sure what happened to her does not happen to anyone else.
"Therefore, we are troubled by the lack of clarity around the criteria used to select Trusts for review, and we urge the investigation team to reconsider its scope to ensure that all families who have suffered loss and harm are given the opportunity to be heard.
"We will continue to seek answers and justice, not only for Laura-Jane, but for all families who have endured preventable loss."
This article was updated on 15 September 2025 to include the 14 NHS trusts, and on 16 September with a statement from Laura-Jane Seaman's family.
Death of Laura-Jane Seaman avoidable and contributed to by neglect, coroner concludes
The inquest into the death of a mother-of-five, who begged medical staff not to let her die, has concluded that her death was avoidable and contributed to by neglect. The coroner also accepted that Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the right to life, was engaged because of the role of the state in her death.
Three-day-old baby would have survived if C-section was performed sooner, inquest concludes
An inquest into the death of Emmy Russo found she would have survived if a caesarean section had been performed on her mother sooner.
Suzanne White
Suzanne White is head of the medical negligence team and has specialised in this area of law since qualifying in 1999.