Maternity inquiry chair and terms yet to be agreed

Beginning an independent inquiry into maternity failings at hospitals in Leeds is "taking a bit longer than any of us would like", the health secretary said.

Wes Streeting announced the inquiry in October after a BBC investigation revealed that the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH) over the last five years may have been prevented.

Speaking on Radio Leeds on Thursday, Streeting said the inquiry's chair and its terms of reference had yet to be agreed with the affected families, adding that it was "important to get that decision right".

LTH previously said it was "taking significant steps to address improvements".

Asked about a start date, Streeting said he was conscious of the "trauma, tragedy and distress" the families had suffered.

"We're working with those families to make sure we can agree a chair and terms of reference," he said.

"It's taking a bit longer than any of us would like, but I think it's important to get that decision right and to make sure it's got the confidence [of those families]."

The BBC's investigation featured testimony from whistleblowers who claimed the maternity units at Leeds General Infirmary and St James' Hospital were unsafe, despite being rated "good" by the Care Quality Commission watchdog at the time.

The units were subsequently downgraded to inadequate.

Last January, the trust said that the vast majority of births at Leeds were safe and that the city cares for a higher volume of babies with complex conditions as it is one of a "handful of specialist centres" in the UK.

In October, bereaved families said they wanted Donna Ockenden - the senior midwife who has led review into maternity failings in Shropshire and Nottingham - to chair the Leeds inquiry.

The nearby Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of 14 health bodies being investigated as part of a wider probe into maternity failings.

The health secretary said that "beyond past failings" he was "looking actively" at the current state of maternity units in Leeds and Bradford.

He added he was "making sure we are driving improvements, not just in the future, but immediately as well".

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