"Maternal Healthcare in Crisis: Campaigner Warns Against 'Fundamentally Dangerous' Solution. A high-profile advocate for maternity safety is speaking out against a key recommendation in the Amos review, a report aimed at improving England's maternity care. Emily Barley, founder of the Maternity Safety Alliance and a bereaved mother herself, has expressed deep concerns that the proposed appointment of a national maternity commissioner will not address the underlying cultural issues plaguing the system. Instead, she calls for a comprehensive overhaul of maternity triage services, more robust investigation processes, and a shift away from a compensation system that she describes as 'brutal' and 'cruel'. As the UK continues to grapple with maternity care failures, Barley's warnings highlight the need for a more fundamental transformation of the healthcare system."
Founder of Maternity Safety Alliance says recommendation in Amos report will not solve wider cultural problemsThe appointment of a national maternity commissioner would be “fundamentally dangerous”, a bereaved mother who founded a maternity safety campaign group has warned.Emily Barley, whose daughter Beatrice died because of failings at Barnsley hospital in 2022, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the recommendation for a maternity commissioner in England in the Amos review was “not going to do what we need to move maternity safety forwards”.Maternity triage services – the childbirth equivalent of A&E – need an urgent overhaul, including more staff on duty, so that women’s concerns are acted on more quickly.Families should get the right to seek a fresh, independent investigation when things go wrong if they are not happy with the hospital’s own inquiry.The NHS’s “brutal” and “cruel” system of agreeing compensation with harmed and bereaved families should be replaced by a new process in which hospitals admit errors immediately.The NHS must root out racism and discrimination that is “embedded throughout the maternity and neonatal system”. Continue reading...
