A former British diplomat has been appointed to lead a national review into maternity and neonatal safety.
Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting announced on Thursday (14 August) that Baroness Valerie Amos will chair the investigation, which will identify ways to “urgently improve care and safety” across services in England.
“I hope that we will be able to provide the answers that families are seeking and support the NHS in identifying areas of care requiring urgent reform”
Valerie Amos
Mr Streeting, in June, began to set the investigation up following a series of meetings between the secretary of state and bereaved families who had been impacted by failures in maternity care in recent years.
It will look at 10 of the worst performing maternity and neonatal units in the country, as well as taking a system-wide look at how care is administered across England.
Baroness Amos will lead a team of clinicians, experts, parents and other stakeholders with a mind to produce a report by the end of 2025.
Currently master of University College, Oxford, Baroness Amos is a life peer in the House of Lords, having previously served in a number of diplomatic, political and education roles in her lengthy career.
Among these posts were a stint as secretary of state for international development under Tony Blair in 2003 and British high commissioner to Australia from 2009 to 2011.
Baroness Amos was chosen, the government said, in part due to a request from families for someone “with distance from the NHS” to lead the national review.
“I will carry the weight of the loss suffered by families with me throughout this investigation,” the newly-appointed chair said.
“I hope that we will be able to provide the answers that families are seeking and support the NHS in identifying areas of care requiring urgent reform.”
The 10 units which will become the focal point of the investigation will be decided by Baroness Amos, with advice from her team.
However, the government stated that among those advising the chair will be families who experienced poor care in Leeds, Sussex and Nottingham, among others.
The three regions mentioned by the government are all serviced by trusts which, in the last decade, have been the subject of national scandals, major investigations or both.
The announcement that a chair has been chosen for the investigation was welcomed by Gill Walton, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM).
Ms Walton, in an interview with Nursing Times earlier this year, aired her frustration at successive government reviews, investigations and inquiries into maternity, on the grounds that she felt they had yet to bring about substantial change.
She said, following this week’s announcement, that midwives and maternity support workers “are desperate” for Mr Streeting to keep a promise to change that.

Gill Walton
“We are pleased to hear of the appointment of Baroness Amos as chair of the rapid review,” said Ms Walton.
“She has a reputation for taking a thoughtful and strategic approach and we welcome her fresh insight into maternity and neonatal safety.”
Ms Walton warned that time was of the essence, airing slight concern that no terms of reference had been set, and the 10 case studies yet to be chosen.
She continued: “Every woman and family should leave maternity and neonatal services whole, happy and healthy, and every member of maternity staff should start and end their shift knowing they have provided safe, good quality care.
“At the moment, that simply isn’t the case. Previous reviews and countless Care Quality Commission reports have flagged the same systemic failings that are at the heart of the issues facing maternity and neonatal care issues time and time again: unsafe staffing; poor workplace cultures; and not listening to women.
“In spite of that, there has been no forward movement.”
Ms Walton added she would like to see lessons learned from trusts performing well, as well as those which are struggling.
“If we are truly to make progress and provide the high quality care women and families deserve and the midwifery community wants to provide, we have to learn from those trusts and services who are doing it already,” she said.
“I hope that, under Baroness Amos’s leadership, this will form part of the review – and I hope that she will act swiftly to deliver a rapid review that’s worthy of the name.”
Some families impacted by the poor care which the investigation will be reviewing, however, are less optimistic.
The Maternity Safety Alliance, a group representing parents whose children died due to maternity failures in England, said the investigation was “doomed” to fail, the BBC reported, claiming that some families had been “ignored, bulldozed and at times re-traumatised” while unsuccessfully requesting to be participants in the review.
Emily Barley, a spokesperson for the group, called for a statutory inquiry to be held instead.

Wes Streeting, secretary of state for health and social care
The government, meanwhile, has said that families will be “central” to the review.
Mr Streeting said, as he announced Baroness Amos’ appointment: “I have been appalled by the many harrowing stories I’ve heard from mothers and fathers let down by the NHS.
“Families asked for fresh eyes, independence and compassion – and that’s why I’ve appointed Baroness Amos.
“Valerie has an outstanding record of leadership and driving change – nationally and internationally.
“She will work closely with families to uncover the truth, confront problems and drive the improvements needed so every woman and baby receives safe, high-quality care.”