Streeting Asks Health Committee to Consider Summoning NHS Leaders on Nottingham Maternity Review

Former health secretary Wes Streeting wrote to Health and Social Care Select Committee chair Layla Moran requesting that the committee use its powers to summon senior NHS leaders who did not participate in the Ockenden maternity review at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The review examined cases at the trust and concluded that more than 500 mothers and babies experienced potentially avoidable harm or death due to systemic failures. Streeting stated that 31 of 66 local executives and directors approached for the review declined interviews, and that only four of 14 senior regional NHS leaders agreed to take part.

In the letter, Streeting described the non-participation as "cowardice" and an "insult to the Nottingham families." He asked the committee to consider contempt of Parliament proceedings if necessary to obtain testimony. The letter did not reference an ongoing police investigation.

The government has announced it will appoint a national maternity commissioner following a separate rapid review led by Baroness Valerie Amos. It has also introduced measures requiring NHS staff, past and present, to cooperate with future maternity reviews, with penalties of up to two years in prison for non-compliance.

Families affected by the Nottingham cases have called for a statutory public inquiry, stating that the Amos review lacked sufficient independence. The Maternity Safety Alliance described the proposed national maternity commissioner role as "dangerous" and said that regulators including the Care Quality Commission and General Medical Council had not faced enough scrutiny.