‘There will be consequences for Chairs and Trust boards for
maternity failures.' That was the message from the Health and
Social Care Secretary, , as he addressed a room full of NHS leaders today.
At a first-of-its-kind summit on maternity and neonatal safety
hosted by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the Royal
College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) as part of its
work with the Progress in Partnership group, the Health Secretary
pulled no punches as he described how he plans to tackle the
maternity safety crisis in England.
The summit was aimed at Chief Executives and Chairs of NHS
Trusts, Boards, and Integrated Care Boards to support them in
addressing the safety crisis facing maternity and neonatal care.
Chaired by Sunday Times Health Editor Shaun Lintern, Shaun asked
the Health and Social Care Secretary What was his diagnosis of
maternity services at the moment?
responded:
“Maternity services are in a bad place now, bad for those using
them and bad for staff. However, today and every other day there
are excellent examples of good maternity care. Even in those
services that have hit the headlines there will have women and
families saying they have had a good experience. There has been a
failure of leadership, failure of morals and ethics that cannot
be ignored. Spending time with families over the past year and
hearing their experiences and how the NHS has responded to them
when things have gone wrong, or in some cases not. People who are
paid more than me in the NHS – could not find the time to meet
those bereaved families. In a world where we are trying to
devolve more power, I need every Board Chair to be my eyes and
ears and take more accountability.”
On the issue of understaffing and how we will improve maternity
services without enough staff, , said: “If you aren't giving people the tools to do
the job, it inflicts moral injuries on staff. When you go home at
the end of the day and know that your best wasn't good enough,
through no fault of your own, it's demoralising, you are going to
leave the service. This is exactly what we don't want to continue
happening. Of course, I'm worried about retention and recruitment
in maternity services. I worry that there is so much negative
press about our maternity services that it will putt future
midwives and maternity staff off applying for jobs.”
On the issue of improving working cultures to improve safety, the
RCM and RCOG says they are pleased the Health Secretary has
acknowledged that staff and services need to better be supported
to get this right. The RCM has long said poor working
environments and cultures not only negatively impact both staff
wellbeing, but the quality of care being provided to women and
families. We need to create cultures where staff feel
comfortable raising concerns, where concerns are addressed
effectively, and where there is a commitment to equality,
diversity, and inclusion.
Commenting, the RCM's Chief Executive, Gill Walton
said:
“We are so pleased to have been able to bring together so many
NHS leaders from across England today, to give them an
opportunity to hear directly from the Secretary of State and ask
him questions. It's also been positive to hear assurances that
the Rapid Review into maternity safety in England will get
underway in August. Equally, to hear that himself will Chair the maternity Taskforce is
positive. Today's event was all about supporting senior
decision-makers in NHS Trusts, Boards and ICBs to make the right
choices for the women and families that rely on them for care,
and the staff that are providing that care. It's also great to
hear the learning that has been shared, that's what we want, more
sharing of good practice and successes to support the maternity
safety improvement drive.”
Ranee Thakar, co-chair of Progress in Partnership and
President of the RCOG, said:
“We welcomed the Secretary of State today reiterating his
personal commitment to bringing women and families, maternity
staff, and NHS leaders together to set the path towards lasting
improvements. By acknowledging and learning from where things
have gone wrong, we can re-build a compassionate maternity system
that provides world-class care.
“It was great to see committed NHS leaders join today's Summit
focused on turning insight into action. Trust Boards are key to
this but, alongside being accountability for progress, we must
see Trusts offered the right support and tools to deliver safe
and personalised care. We were encouraged by the Secretary
of State's comments that improving maternity estates and tackling
workforce shortages are absolutely part of improving things for
women and babies.”
During the summit delegates also heard from experts in the field
and from teams around the country who presented solutions that
are already improving outcomes for women and families. While Sir
, former Health Secretary and
now chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Patient
Safety gave the closing keynote address.
