Families call for action to improve maternity care

Grieving families in Sussex say they are frustrated and angry that sufficient improvements have not been made in maternity care despite repeated inspections by the regulator.

The maternity unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath has been rated as "requiring improvement" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for more than three years.

Kimberley Newark's five-day-old daughter, Olivia, died in 2024 at the hospital and she has described an "incredibly frustrating" lack of progress by the CQC.

The CQC said it was aware of families who felt it not taken sufficient action but said NHS maternity services "are subject to close regulatory oversight".

Newark and her partner Yann Trupiano say their grief has been compounded by what they see as the CQC not being able to ensure improvements are made to maternity units under the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

"Just the fact that it continues to be 'requires improvement' and the fact that it keeps happening, you would think that they would do something different or change the management [but] it's clearly not working," she said.

"It's just not acceptable. We don't want other families to suffer how we have suffered and for more innocent babies, and possibly mothers, dying."

The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust runs maternity departments at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, Worthing Hospital, St Richard's Hospital in Chichester and the Princess Royal Hospital.

In April senior midwife Donna Ockenden was appointed to lead an independent review into maternity services at the trust.

The most recent CQC report into the maternity departments at the Princess Royal Hospital and St Richard's rated them again as "requires improvement".

Inspectors also rated the service 'good' for 'effective' and 'good' for 'caring', while also recording positive feedback from women and partners they spoke to during the inspection.

Parents who lost babies at the trust's hospitals formed Truth for our Babies group to raise concerns about the standard of care at the trust.

In a statement it said five years of monitoring by the CQC had failed to deliver safe maternity care, and asked "so why should families have confidence that more of the same will achieve a different outcome?".

It added: "In spite of years of scrutiny, and assurances that improvements are being made, it's clear that these units remain unsafe."

The report from the CQC identified persistent concerns including unresolved staffing issues, delays in assessment and treatment, failures in oversight and governance, and regulatory breaches.

"Any positive findings within the reports do little to address the central issue that neither unit has been deemed safe, which should be a minimum standard," the Truth for our Babies group said.

Sanja Strkljevic, a partner at Leigh Day solicitors and a specialist in medical cases, said: "It is absolutely right for the families to have an expectation that when the CQC has inspected a trust and they have issued recommendations, that those are put into place.

"It is the standard of service that we expect and the CQC has various regulations that trusts have to comply with."

University Hospitals Sussex NHS trust says it "fully accepts" the conclusion of the CQC inspection, but also welcomed its recognition of the teams "compassion and dedication to their work".

Dr Maggie Davies, chief nurse at University Hospitals Sussex, said she was "desperately sorry for the loss of Olivia", adding it would do "everything we can" to help the coroner address questions at an upcoming inquest.

Gail Byrne, interim chief nurse at the trust, said: "We welcome these findings, particularly the positive feedback from women and their loved ones, and the inspectors' recognition of our maternity teams' compassion and dedication to their work."

She said the trust accepted further improvement was needed and it was working to addressing the issues "urgently".

"We have increased theatre capacity and staffing levels, strengthened how we collect and monitor key safety information, and reviewed and updated policies and clinical guidance.

"However, we know there is much more to do. Listening to women and families, learning from their experiences and acting on what they tell us will remain at the heart of our commitment to providing the safe, compassionate and high-quality care every family deserves."

A CQC spokesperson it said it had told the trust to submit an action plan outlining how it will address the specific issues it identified.

"We have also made clear what regulatory action we will take if we're not reassured by their plan.

"Where we have identified concerns about the quality and safety of care, we have held those trusts to account and required improvements to be made – in some cases using our enforcement powers, and in the most serious cases that has included prosecution."

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