Maternity safety campaigners head to Downing Street to demand action

More than 20 leading NHS doctors and experts back Baby Lifeline demand for safety training for maternity staff to cut £7m a day negligence costs

The Independent’s maternity safety campaign went to Downing Street today as senior figures from across the health service delivered a letter demanding action from prime minister Boris Johnson.

Charity Baby Lifeline and a delegation of experts visited Downing Street to hand in a letter calling on the government to reinstate a national fund for maternity safety training.

The letter has been backed by more than 20 senior NHS leaders including Dona Ockenden, who is leading the investigation into the largest maternity scandal in the NHS’s history at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust.

Baby Lifeline, which has also launched an online petition, said the government needed to find £19m to support training of both midwives and doctors to prevent deaths and brain damage, which can cost the NHS millions of pounds for a single case.

The charity said the costs of maternity negligence claims was more than £2.5bn in 2018-19, equivalent to £7m a day.

Delivering the letter were Judy Ledger, chief executive of Baby Lifeline, Derek Richford, whose grandson died as a result of avoidable neglect at birth, Dr Felicity Platt, president of the Association of Obstetric Anaesthetists, Clea Harmer, chief executive of the SANDS chaity, Amanda Stevens, chief executive of Hudgells Solicitors and Sara Ledger from Baby Lifeline.

Based on current birth and perinatal mortality rates, there are around 2,400 stillbirths, 1,680 early neonatal deaths, and 1,560 cases of brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation each year in England.

The letter to Mr Johnson has also been signed by Dr Bill Kirkup, who led the investigation into baby deaths at the Morecambe Bay NHS trust and is investigating poor care at the East Kent Hospitals University Trust.

He said: “There have been real improvements in maternity services, but as recent events in Kent and Shropshire have shown only too clearly, much more remains to be done. The Maternity Safety Training Fund is badly needed.”

Sir Robert Francis QC, chairman of the public inquiry into poor care at Stafford Hospital, who also signed, said: “The cost in lost and broken lives, not to mention the unsustainable financial burden and the distress of staff caused by these avoidable mistakes, is indefensible.”

Other signatories included former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and a number of senior maternity figures, charities and clinical associations.

Derek Richford, whose grandson Harry died at East Kent Hospitals University Trust as a result of avoidable neglect, signed the letter on behalf of his family and said action was needed in next week's budget to prevent similar tragedies.

Judy Ledger, founder and chief executive of Baby Lifeline, said: “Baby Lifeline is campaigning with The Independent for the government to invest more funding into the maternity sector – especially for high quality, standardised training for maternity professionals. Evidence shows that with the right training, a high percentage of serious injuries could be avoided. The amount we seek is negligible compared to just one negligence claim.”

She said after the 2016 fund was scrapped, Baby Lifeline had learned the level of training in maternity had since dropped.

The previous maternity safety training fund cost £8 million and trained 30,000 NHS staff. An evaluation of the fund found it was effective.

The letter to Boris Johnson said: “The cost of inaction, both financial and human, far outweighs the cost of adequate training. Please commit to making the change now.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We want the NHS to be the safest place in the world to give birth, helping families avoid the unimaginable pain of losing a baby. We’re committed to transforming maternity services as part the NHS Long Term Plan, backed by an extra £33.9 billion a year by 2023-24.

“As part of wider efforts to improve maternity safety, we are working hard on options to provide central support for maternity training.”