Health secretary to address national summit on maternity and neonatal safety

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting will address NHS leaders at a first-of-its-kind summit on maternity and neonatal safety in July.

The summit is aimed at chief executives and chairs of NHS trusts, boards and integrated care boards to support them in addressing the safety crisis facing maternity and neonatal care.

Gill Walton, co-chair of Progress in Partnership and Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives, says:

“Every woman, family and newborn should receive safe, kind and consistent care, but sadly that isn’t always the case. I know from talking to staff how much not being able to provide the quality of care they want to provide impacts them too. No-one could disagree that maternity and neonatal services are at crisis point. When the challenge is so great, it can be hard to see a way out, which is why the Progress in Partnership collaboration is hosting this summit. We want to support the senior decision-makers in NHS trusts, boards and ICBs to make the right choices for the women and families that rely on them for care, and the staff that are providing that care.

“There is undoubtedly a moral imperative to solving the safety crisis in maternity and neonatal care – and there is also a financial one, with £1bn paid in compensation for unavoidable harm. Imagine the good we could do if every woman and family left maternity and neonatal services whole and happy – and imagine how much more we could do if that money could be properly invested in maternity and neonatal care.”

In addition to Wes Streeting and Sir Jeremy Hunt, delegates will also hear from Megan Bidder of NHS Resolution about the financial costs of safety failings in maternity and neonatal care, and from Dr Bill Kirkup, author of two independent investigations into maternity services, who will set out how crises occur, particularly around culture and multidisciplinary working.

Progress in Partnership represents more than 200,000 frontline staff across maternity and neonatal services, coming together with the shared goal of improving the quality of care for women and families.

Ranee Thakar, co-chair of Progress in Partnership and President of the RCOG, says: “There is no doubt that faster progress is needed to address the crisis in maternity and neonatal care, so that every baby and woman can receive the compassionate, personalised and high quality care they deserve. The commitment of maternity and neonatal organisations to driving much-needed change is not in doubt, and our summit aims to share scalable, sustainable solutions with NHS leaders to support this goal.

“The programme will cover latest insights, tools and practical examples to boost improvement efforts. This includes hearing about the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth programme rolling out nationally from September to reduce risks associated with two major contributors to avoidable brain injury in labour.”

The event, which is by invitation only and aimed specifically at trust, board and ICB chairs and chief executives, takes place at 10 Union Street, London, on 16 July.