Specialist Birth Injury Team Responds to National Maternity Care Investigation

Fletchers Solicitors has welcomed the announcement of a new national investigation into maternity care at NHS Trusts across England, as confirmed today by Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

The review, expected to examine failings at up to 10 Trusts, will report by Christmas and aims to provide a clear direction for reform by bringing together findings and recommendations from previous maternity scandals. Alongside this, a new national maternity and neonatal taskforce has been launched to involve NHS staff, campaigners, families, and global experts in driving meaningful change.

While the decision to stop short of a statutory public inquiry has drawn criticism from some campaigners, Mr Streeting’s candid acknowledgment that “maternity units are failing. Hospitals are failing. Trusts are failing. Regulators are failing,” has been widely welcomed by families who have fought for answers.

A comment from our legal team

At Fletchers, our specialist birth injury team has supported many of these families- those who have experienced the heartbreak of preventable harm during labour and delivery, often in circumstances where concerns were ignored or mistakes repeated. The team, led by Partner Trevor Ward, is among the most experienced in the country, with a track record of securing justice and compensation for families whose lives have been changed forever.

Responding to today’s announcement, Trevor Ward said:

“This announcement is a step in the right direction. The number of initiatives and repeated reviews into maternity care reflect a system that continues to fail the most vulnerable being mothers, babies and their families. We welcome the sentiment and the urgency shown, but the key test will be in the substance of the recommendations and, crucially, whether real, measurable progress follows. Too often, families are let down not only by the care they receive, but in some cases by a lack of accountability and transparency. That must change.”

With recent CQC reports rating maternity services in Leeds and elsewhere as “inadequate”, and ongoing investigations into cases in Sussex, the scale of the problem is once again being laid bare. For the specialist lawyers at Fletchers, these stories are all too familiar.

Fighting for answers and accountability

The birth injury team at Fletchers has been instrumental in supporting families through complex and emotionally challenging cases. These include claims involving hypoxic brain injuries, delays in recognising foetal distress, failures in monitoring, and inadequate neonatal care.

What sets our team apart is a combination of deep clinical negligence expertise, compassion, and determination. We work closely with leading medical experts to ensure every case is thoroughly investigated, and we never shy away from holding Trusts and NHS bodies to account in some cases in the face of institutional denial.

As the government’s national investigation progresses, our team will continue to support families affected by poor maternity care working closely with NHSR to get resolutions for families. We believe this latest review must not only highlight systemic failings but lead to tangible change with better training, safer staffing levels, more robust oversight, and a culture where speaking up is encouraged, not silenced.