Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

I thank my hon. Friend for her comments and I welcome her support for our decision to ensure the duty of candour introduced by the Hillsborough law will apply to future maternity reviews, such as those due to happen in relation to Leeds and Sussex. In terms of the process of what happens next and the implementation of the changes that we know need to happen, I reassure her that the national taskforce that I chair will produce, by the end of this year, a comprehensive plan of action that will be based on a consideration of all the recommendations that apply nationally in Donna Ockenden’s review, as well as the recommendations from Baroness Amos’s review and any other reviews that have issued recommendations on the subject too.

[Sir Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge) (Con)]

I was not that familiar with the issue of neonatal and maternity services until my constituent, Mr Thomas Hender, contacted me about the tragic loss of his son, Aubrey. He highlighted the battle that he and his family had gone through, and that so many others had been going through. Sadly, these issues have happened not just at the NHS trust in Nottingham, but at those in Morecambe Bay, East Kent, Shrewsbury and Telford, Leeds and Sussex. Some six further reviews and investigations have been carried out. I value the fact that the Secretary of State said that he had an open mind about a public inquiry; I think we need to move in that direction. It was not until the review of care at the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust became a public inquiry that we were able to address some of the issues. The issues facing neonatal and maternity services are present not only in the areas that I mentioned, but they touch on many other corners of the country, and only a public inquiry can address that.

[James Murray]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his comments and for telling us some of the story of Thomas and his son, Aubrey. On the need for action, I intend the taskforce that I chair, which will consider all the recommendations from Donna Ockenden’s report and other investigations into failures in maternity services, to produce a comprehensive action plan by the end of this year. That will ensure, as I said earlier, that these recommendations do not sit on shelves gathering dust and that they are put into action. I take on board his points about a public inquiry. I know that his views are shared by some of the families, but I am conscious that other families have different views on this matter. What unites them all is a desire for action, accountability and justice. We need to find the best route to deliver that for them, because that is, above all, the most important thing. However, I reassure him, as I have reassured other hon. Members, that for me no options should be off the table.