Amos review prompts call for reforms and maternity commissioner in England

Oxford NHS maternity leaders 'arrogant' over staff concerns  BBCGovernment promises to act on maternity care failings which 'shame our society'  BBCThe Amos review tells us nothing we did not already know  New StatesmanMP 'treated with disdain' by 'toxic' maternity unit  BBCTransparency, standards and a new commissioner – but does the maternity review go far enough?  The Guardian

Families demand full inquiry as review finds England's maternity system failing women and babies  BBCBereaved mother says England maternity commissioner role would be ‘fundamentally dangerous’  The Guardian'A maternity commissioner will focus minds'  BBCBaroness Amos maternity review: 5 key findings  The TimesGovernment promises to act on maternity care failings which 'shame our society'  BBC

Families demand full inquiry as review finds England's maternity system failing women and babies  BBCBereaved mother says England maternity commissioner role would be ‘fundamentally dangerous’  The GuardianBaroness Amos maternity review: 5 key findings  The TimesGovernment promises to act after 'shocking' failings in maternity care in England  BBCInvestigation into maternity care in England finds ‘overall system failure’  Financial Times

Founder of Maternity Safety Alliance says recommendation in Amos report will not solve wider cultural problemsThe appointment of a national maternity commissioner would be “fundamentally dangerous”, a bereaved mother who founded a maternity safety campaign group has warned.Emily Barley, whose daughter Beatrice died because of failings at Barnsley hospital in 2022, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the recommendation for a maternity commissioner in England in the Amos review was “not going to do what we need to move maternity safety forwards”.Maternity triage services – the childbirth equivalent of A&E – need an urgent overhaul, including more staff on duty, so that women’s concerns are acted on more quickly.Families should get the right to seek a fresh, independent investigation when things go wrong if they are not happy with the hospital’s own inquiry.The NHS’s “brutal” and “cruel” system of agreeing compensation with harmed and bereaved families should be replaced by a new process in which hospitals admit errors immediately.The NHS must root out racism and discrimination that is “embedded throughout the maternity and neonatal system”. Continue reading...

Health secretary announces move after Amos review finds childbirth and neonatal care in need of ‘urgent reform’Analysis: Transparency, standards and a new commissioner – but does maternity review go far enough?A powerful maternity commissioner will be appointed to push through an urgent transformation of childbirth care in England after a major review concluded that it had multiple failings.Ministers have bowed to growing pressure by agreeing to recruit the UK’s first commissioner for maternity and neonatal care. Whoever takes on the role will pursue hospitals over persistent failures in care, ensure wide-ranging improvements are made and try to restore the faith of families in a maternity system in England that has been rocked by a series of scandals.Maternity triage services – the childbirth equivalent of A&E – need an urgent overhaul, including more staff on duty, so that women’s concerns are acted on more quickly.Families should get the right to seek a fresh, independent investigation when things go wrong if they are not happy with the hospital’s own inquiry.The NHS’s “brutal” and “cruel” system of agreeing compensation with harmed and bereaved families should be replaced by a new process in which hospitals admit errors immediately.The NHS must root out racism and discrimination that is “embedded throughout the maternity and neonatal system”. Continue reading...

Amos review sets out recommendations for government, but falls short on systemic racism and traumatic birthsEngland to get powerful maternity commissioner after ‘shocking’ failingsThe findings of Lady Amos’ review into maternity and neonatal services across England, which state the system is ultimately no longer fit for purpose, are unsurprising. The systemic failures and inadequacies of these services have been uncovered in several reports already, including Donna Ockenden’s review of the “toxic” Nottingham NHS trust published last week.But what this report does offer are a set of recommendations for the government to implement. Amos states that if they were to be delivered in full then “the overall safety and quality of maternity and neonatal care in England will be materially and sustainably improved”. But how far do these recommendations go, and what will it take for them to be implemented? Continue reading...