Family says maternity review 'not fit for purpose'
BBCA maternity campaigner from Nottingham whose daughter was stillborn has said a government rapid review is "not fit for purpose".
Dr Jack Hawkins, whose daughter Harriet died in 2016 after failings at Nottingham City Hospital, has said he is concerned The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation lacks the power to deliver reform and accountability.
The investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos, is meant to draw up a series of national recommendations to improve services after previous inquiries exposed problems but did not lead to enough sustained improvements.
A spokesperson for the rapid review said it would see improvements faster than a statutory public review.
An interim report found maternity services blighted with hungry mothers, dirty wards and poor care. The final report is due to be published in spring.
Dr Hawkins is part of Maternity Safety Alliance, a parent-led campaign group calling for a full statutory public inquiry into maternity safety in England.
Further criticisms from the Maternity Safety Alliance include a concern that the review does not have time to properly assess each NHS Trust, that so-called "family panels" are "tokenistic" and only include a small number of affected parents and conflicts of interest in governance.
Dr Hawkins said the rapid review was "tragically minimising harm done to families", adding that in order to participate "you're asked to fill in a lifetime of trauma" into 500 words or less, which is not "appropriate or fair".
He said it was "clear" the individual trusts should be having separate reviews and inquiries, with a statutory public inquiry for the country as a whole.
Once the rapid review is complete, a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce "will use the recommendations made by Baroness Amos' investigation to develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care".
The 14 NHS trusts that will be examined under the review include University Hospitals of Leicester, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital, and Sandwell and West Birmingham.
Separately, Nottingham's two main hospitals are subject to the biggest inquiry in NHS history.
Chaired by Donna Ockenden, the review is examining about 2,500 cases at Nottingham's QMC and City Hospital. The report is due to be published in June.
The spokesperson for the rapid review said: "Rather than starting from scratch, Baroness Amos is taking a focused approach, hearing from women and families, visiting 12 local trusts across the country and looking at what has been implemented from recommendations from previous reviews and their impact.
"A National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary of State, is being set up. The taskforce will use the recommendations made by Baroness Amos' investigation to develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care."
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