Call for Evidence

The Committee invites written submissions addressing any or all of the following points:

• what the impact has been of the work which has already taken place aimed at improving maternity safety, and the extent to which the recommendations of past work on maternity safety by Trusts, Government and its arm’s-length bodies, and reviews of previous maternity safety incidents, are being consistently and rigorously implemented across the country;
• the contribution of clinical negligence and litigation processes to maternity safety, and what changes could be made to clinical negligence and litigation processes to improve the safety of maternity services;
• advice, guidance and practice on the choices available to pregnant women about natural births, home births and interventions such as C-sections, and the extent to which medical advice and decision-making is affected by a fear of the “blame culture”;
• how effective the training and support offered to maternity staff is, and what improvements could be made to them to improve the safety of maternity services; and
• the role and work of the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch in improving the safety of maternity services, and the adequacy and appropriateness of the collection and analysis of data on maternity safety.

The Committee will aim to draw on work which has already been done, and is currently being carried out, relevant to maternity safety. It will also aim to learn from what has happened in cases such as Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury and Telford and East Kent. However, the Committee will not re-examine any reviews or investigations that have already taken place or are currently underway in any specific detail, or investigate or adjudicate on particular hospitals or individual cases. 

The deadline for submitting evidence for this inquiry has now passed but late submissions may be accepted at the Committee’s discretion.