As reported by the BBC in this report, concerns have been raised regarding the state of maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH), with serious allegations of chronic understaffing and substandard care, potentially amounting to clinical negligence.
An experienced clinical staff member, who chose to remain anonymous, described the service as “completely broken,” emphasizing that women and babies are not receiving the care they deserve. Lisa Elliott, a former temporary maternity support worker, described care as “chaotic” and highlighted instances of staff displaying a lack of empathy towards patients.
Elliott, who began working in the hospitals in 2020 and witnessed a CQC inspection in 2024, expressed doubts about the “good” rating given to maternity services. She reported her concerns about staff attitudes but felt they were not adequately addressed. These issues raise serious questions about potential clinical negligence, as the failure to provide adequate care could have significant repercussions for patients.
Prof Phil Wood, chief executive of LTH, apologized to those affected and pointed out the hospital’s role as a specialist centre for critically ill babies. He stressed the difficulty and potential misleading nature of comparing LTH’s neonatal mortality data with other hospitals.
Chris Dzikiti, the interim chief inspector of healthcare at CQC, confirmed that LTH’s maternity services are under close scrutiny. He noted that inspections were conducted last month following concerns from families and ongoing risk monitoring, with the findings to be published soon.
A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care reiterated the government’s commitment to learning from recent investigations to ensure safe, personalized, and compassionate care for women and babies. They emphasized support for trusts failing in maternity care to make rapid improvements and announced plans to work with NHS England to train thousands more midwives.
This situation underscores the critical need for continual oversight and improvement in healthcare services, with legal implications for the trust and accountability to the affected families. The potential issues of clinical negligence call for immediate and effective measures to ensure that the standards of care are met and maintained.
We see too many articles of this nature (frankly any is too many) such as:
And in August 2024 the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman warned that women and babies are being put at risk after a worrying rise in the number of investigations about maternity care. Read the report here.
If you have been affected by any of these issues, please feel free to contact our specialist team of Medical Negligence Lawyers for free, confidential and informal advice in the first instance.
Article written by Head of Medical Negligence Tom Barnes.
