Key Facts

• In November 2018, a letter signed by more than 50 staff members at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham warned of "systemic failures" and predicted that "mistakes will be inevitable" if problems weren't addressed, but the management's reaction was deemed "inadequate" and the concerns were not addressed.
• A 2023 review of maternity services in Nottingham found that hundreds of mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or died due to deeply embedded "systemic failures", highlighting a persistent failure to listen to mothers and fathers.
• The review found that the trust's response to the 2018 letter, sent two weeks after it was delivered, was "unsatisfactory" and did not address the concerns raised, with no evidence that the board had discussed the letter.
• England's former health secretary Wes Streeting had highlighted the 748 recommendations that exist across the health service for improvements in maternity and neonatal care, but families argue that the NHS has failed to take meaningful action, leading to the need for another inquiry.
• Despite previous inquiries and recommendations, no one in a senior leadership position has been held to account for the failures in maternity care, with some executives allowed to retire or move into other NHS roles, prompting calls for a public inquiry into maternity care in England.