A startling lack of compassionate care at maternity units under Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
An episode of Panorama aired on Monday night reporting on a startling lack of compassionate care at maternity units run by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which is responsible for both City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC). Additionally, serious concerns about safety in maternity care have been raised.
In December 2025, in her interim report, Baroness Amos, chair of the review into maternity care set up by the former Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that what she had seen so far “has been much worse” than she had anticipated. This review comes in the wake of countless scandals afflicting maternity care units across the country, including units at NHS Trusts in Oxford, Leeds, East Kent, Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury and Telford, and of course Nottingham.
Baroness Amos highlighted a number of issues that are being raised consistently, including:
- Women not being listened to, including when they report reduced fetal movements
- Women of colour, working class women and women with mental health problems experiencing discrimination in the care they receive
- NHS organisations “marking their own homework” following serious incidents i.e. the death of a baby or where a baby has suffered serious harm.
But what has been revealed by Panorama at maternity units run by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust adds insult to injury and will be incredibly distressing for families who have suffered devastating loss and/or harm at what should be a uniquely joyous and special time. It includes examples of what could only be described as cold, uncompassionate and unfeeling attitudes on the part of some midwifery staff at City Hospital and the QMC towards expectant and birthing mothers, as well as possible risky practices, including a determination to keep women at home for as long as possible before being admitted for child birth, exposing both mother and baby to the risk of harm and death. It is perhaps then not a huge surprise that the Trust is the subject of the largest maternity inquiry in the NHS’ history, investigating stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths, and injured babies and mothers spanning 2012 to 2025, with some 2500 families affected.
Of course, this only serves to further reinforce the growing worrying picture nationally that maternity care is in crisis.
After the Francis report into the widespread failings at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust back in 2013, many NHS trusts promised to prioritise patient safety, embrace the values of transparency and accountability and learn from their mistakes, to ensure they were never again repeated.
But since that time, there has been scandal after scandal.
In the case of Nottingham, both families and former staff have bravely spoken out to highlight their horrendous and traumatic experiences in the hope this will finally effect positive change. Staff have described a toxic and bullying culture compounded by staff shortages, contributing to a lack of compassion, care and interest. We have seen time and time again how these factors in a maternity setting have the capacity to negatively impact the quality of care provided to both women and babies, increasing the risk of avoidable harm and death. One of the most shocking reports by BBC News on Monday was of a junior midwife’s calls for assistance being ignored by more senior staff who were shopping for handbags online.
It is to be hoped that finally, through the maternity inquiry and also Baroness Amos’ review, valuable lessons will be learned and constructive steps taken to improve maternity care nationwide to ensure mistakes are not repeated and that women and babies are protected from avoidable harm.
The first meaningful step would be to address the staffing crisis in the sector, which requires massive investment, as well as strong training and supervision to ensure mistakes are learned from and not repeated.
