UK launches investigation into maternity care after multiple scandals

LONDON (Reuters) -British health minister Wes Streeting launched an investigation into maternity services in England on Monday, aimed at driving urgent improvements after a series of high-profile failures that have led to the deaths of babies and mothers.

The investigation will aim to report back by December 2025, Streeting said in a statement, adding that it would look at up to ten of the worst-performing services in England as well as reviewing the entire maternity system.

Over the past two decades, there have been a number of scandals in maternity care across the country including at Morecambe Bay, East Kent, Shrewsbury and Telford, and Nottingham.

The local review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford, for example, found that failures in care over 20 years may have led to the deaths of more than 200 babies and nine mothers.

Streeting said failures in maternity care provided by the state-run National Health Service had caused many families to lose babies or suffer serious harm and should never have been allowed to happen.

"Maternity care should be the litmus test by which this government is judged on patient safety, and I will do everything in my power to ensure no family has to suffer like this again," he said in a statement.

The aim is to create one set of actions to improve maternity care across the country, the statement said. The government will also establish a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce of experts and bereaved families.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by William James)