Announced in October last year, the review will focus on identifying areas of concern within maternity and neonatal care at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Donna Ockenden has been appointed to lead the independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust’s maternity and neonatal service. A British midwife and community activist, she was commissioned in 2016 by the then health secretary Jeremy Hunt to chair an independent review into maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
In October last year, health secretary Wes Streeting called for an investigation after “repeated failures” at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
“Donna Ockenden is an outstanding advocate for families whose voices haven’t always been heard, and I’m delighted to appoint someone so trusted by those who have been repeatedly let down by the NHS,” said Streeting.
As Healthcare Today reported in January, there were at least 56 cases of stillbirths or neonatal deaths, as well as two maternity deaths, between January 2019 and July 2024. At the time, families were calling for an independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, specifically for an independent, judge-led enquiry to help improve maternity safety.
In June, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found breaches of regulations in maternity services related to learning following incidents, risk management, safe environment, infection prevention and control, medicines management and management processes.
Breaches were also found in neonatal services relating to risk management, safe environment, infection prevention and control, medicines management and staffing.
This triggered another investigation published at the beginning of October, which rated leadership as “requires improvement”.
Maternity services at both hospitals declined from “good” to “inadequate” overall, and neonatal services at both hospitals were rated as “requires improvement” overall.
Terms of reference
From next month, the government will work with families to develop the terms of reference for the review, with individual clinical case reviews set to begin from August.
The review will focus on identifying areas of concern within maternity and neonatal care at the Trust, with recommended actions to help improve the safety, quality and equity of maternity care.
While the terms of reference for the review are yet to be agreed, it is expected that the review will involve case reviews of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and serious incidents, hypoxic injuries and maternal deaths over a 15-year timeframe – from January 2011 to December last year.
It will also look at the governance, accountability and the handling of concerns at the Trust when they are raised by women and/or their families and staff members.
Final decisions will be made following further engagement with Ockenden and families.
“I am deeply sorry to families whose babies have sadly died or who have been harmed when receiving care in our hospitals,” said Brendan Brown, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, in response to the announcement.
“We welcome the announcement that a chair has been appointed to lead the independent review, and we are absolutely committed to working openly, honestly and transparently with Donna Ockenden and the review team, and with families who have used our services. We hope this announcement will give reassurance to families that the review can now move forward and provide the answers they deserve,” he added.
