Inquiry into Leeds NHS maternity failings announced

A full independent inquiry into ‘repeated’ maternity failings at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been announced by the Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

It comes after years of campaigning by bereaved families who lost their babies at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s University Hospital in Leeds.

Over 70 families, whose cases go back over 15 years, wrote to and met with the Health Secretary to share their experiences of losing their baby or suffering harm as a result of poor maternity care at the Leeds maternity units.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “shocked” by the “repeated maternity failures… made worse by the unacceptable response of the trust.”

He said:

“We have to give the families the honesty and accountability they deserve and end the normalisation of deaths of women and babies in maternity units.

“These are people who, at a moment of great vulnerability, placed their lives and the lives of their unborn children in the hands of others – and instead of being supported and cared for, found themselves victims.

“I think we need clear answers, accountability and improvement… I do think we need that independent look in terms of how that’s going, not just today but stretching back to historic cases as well.

“I do think there is an exceptional case in Leeds to have a Nottingham-style independent inquiry into the failures.”

The largest investigation into maternity failings in NHS history is currently underway at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, headed by senior midwife Donna Ockenden.

Ockenden and her team are examining 2,297 cases of harm to babies and mothers at Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital from 2021 to present day. They include stillbirths, neonatal deaths, brain injuries and maternal harm and deaths. The review team plan to publish the final report in June 2026.

It is not yet known who will lead the independent inquiry into maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, but families affected are calling for Donna Ockenden. They have also called for a police investigation.

Until the inquiry is underway, Leeds will remain part of the rapid national review into maternity services led by Baroness Amos.

A recent BBC investigation that revealed that the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers at Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s University Hospital may have been preventable.

In June 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) downgraded maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to “inadequate”, describing serious risks to women and babies and a deep-rooted “blame culture” that left staff afraid to speak up.

Brendan Brown, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said:

“I want to start by offering the families an unreserved apology, not only for their experience, but also for the fight that they’ve had in raising these concerns.

“And I want to assure them of our commitment to engage with the independent inquiry openly, honestly and transparently.”

One couple who have been prominent in the campaign for an independent inquiry into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are Fiona Wisner-Ramm and Daniel Ramm, who lost their daughter Aliona 27 minutes after she was born in 2020. An inquest found there were “gross failures” in her care.

In a statement they said:

“This means that Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will now be properly investigated, allowing for meaningful changes to its culture and practices.

“We hope that this inquiry will finally break the cycle of repeated errors and inadequate leadership, helping to prevent further deaths and injuries to mothers and babies.”