'We can't continue like this': Inquiry demands NHS maternity overhaul

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: 'We can't continue like this': Inquiry demands NHS maternity overhaulByMichael Buchanan, Social Affairs and Eleanor Lawrie, Social AffairsPublished12 minutes agoA national inquiry has strongly criticised the NHS maternity system in England, saying it is "not set up to deliver consistently safe, high-quality and compassionate care". Baroness Valerie Amos, who chaired the government-commissioned review, found "unacceptable racism and discrimination embedded within the system" and said that "as a country... we cannot continue like this".

She recommended eight changes to overhaul the system, including the appointment of a maternity commissioner with a "relentless focus" on improving care. Her independent findings come days after a review into maternity care in Nottingham found hundreds of women and babies had been harmed by poor care. Racism and 'poor' staff relationships factors in maternity care failings, report finds Published26 FebruaryHungry mothers and dirty wards - maternity care 'much worse' than anticipated, review chief says Published9 December 2025Controversy has surrounded the publication of the final Amos report after one of the country's leading maternity investigators resigned over its conclusions.

The Details

Dr Bill Kirkup, who investigated maternity services in Morecambe Bay and East Kent, is understood to have disagreed with Baroness Amos over her finding that a push for normal birth, including denying women caesarean sections, was not prevalent nationally. A series of scandalsThe National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, external was set up last summer by the then-health secretary, Wes Streeting. The aim to was produce a report to drive through improvements across England after a series of maternity scandals undermined the trust of many families in the NHS.

Baroness Amos and her team heard from more than 450 families and visited 12 NHS trusts to understand what change was needed. The key failing they identified was an unwillingness to listen to women and families, leading to poor outcomes. There was a lack of a consistent standard of care, with large variations across the health service.

The system is "fragmented, overly complex and too slow to learn and improve," Baroness Amos noted in her report. One of the immediate actions being urged on maternity units is to overhaul their triage service, which Baroness Amos described as "increasingly becoming the A&E service for maternity". As part of that, midwives should be dedicated to answering calls and providing timely advice, while women should be offered a face-to-face appointment if they remain concerned.

If these changes are made, the report says, "lives will be saved and harm reduced". Meanwhile, racism and discrimination must be treated as a critical safety issue, the inquiry found, requiring urgent intervention including gathering granular data on unequal outcomes that is escalated to board level when patterns emerge.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.