A damning report into NHS maternity services in England has found that hospitals often resort to covering up mistakes, falsifying medical records, and denying bereaved families answers after harmful errors during childbirth. The review, led by former Labour cabinet minister Baroness Amos, concludes that the system is failing women, babies, and staff, with devastating consequences.
The report highlights that negligent care has led to severe emotional and psychological harm for families. It also reveals that disputes between maternity staff have a disastrous impact on mothers, and that ethnic minority and poorer women experience worse outcomes due to racism and discrimination. Recent rises in older motherhood and obesity have further complicated care.
Baroness Amos criticised NHS trusts for compounding trauma through secrecy rather than transparency. One woman described how medical notes 'magically reappeared' three years after her daughter's birth, with inaccuracies noted by her mother. Another family faced resistance when requesting notes, and instances of amendments or redactions were common.
Staff shortages are a key factor, leading to long delays for assessments and caesarean sections, cancelled home births, and insufficient antenatal appointments. Mothers are often sent home without proper assessment and cannot get through for advice. The report also notes that trusts ban families from investigations, conduct poor-quality inquiries, and drive families to legal action to uncover the truth.
Paul Whiteing, chief executive of patient safety charity Action against Medical Accidents, stated: 'The evidence that Baroness Amos has uncovered shows the shocking lengths that some staff are going to, such as hiding or falsifying medical records, in order to cover their tracks. This shows the scale of the challenge to improving maternity and neonatal services and care.'
The report urges trusts to learn from previous scandals, warning that the cycle of failure must stop. Families continue to express distress over unaddressed issues from earlier reviews, while staff face frustration at the lack of progress.
