Bliss welcomes today’s (15 September) announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) of further information about the rapid national maternity and neonatal investigation, including which hospital trusts will be involved.
Caroline Lee-Davey, Bliss Chief Executive, said: “We welcome this announcement outlining further progress in the Government’s plans for a national maternity and neonatal investigation, which is intended to make recommendations to urgently improve care and safety in maternity and neonatal care. In particular, we are pleased to see a strong focus on identifying the drivers and impacts of inequalities, and welcome Baroness Amos’ personal commitment to pay ‘particular attention to the inequalities faced by Black and Asian women and by families from marginalised groups’.
“However, we remain unclear as to how neonatal services – which are commissioned and managed separately from maternity services – will be involved in the review, including at the 14 trusts named as part of the investigation. We look forward to seeing further detail in the Terms of Reference as to how neonatal care will be incorporated in the investigation, and stand ready to support the investigation team to ensure that every baby admitted to neonatal care has the best chance of survival and quality of life”.
