Nottingham Maternity and Neonatal Services

Jo White Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his remarks. The story he told was of yet another horrific and harrowing experience that a family has gone through in this scandal. He asked whether we want to prioritise a focus on regular and high-quality training across the country, and I think it is essential to ensure that such training is in place. Although I do not want to prejudge the action plan that the taskforce I am chairing will produce, I cannot imagine a world where training is not a key part of that. Having seen the report, and spoken to families and to Donna Ockenden, my strong feeling is that no single action will transform the system on its own, and that we need a comprehensive plan from every angle to truly transform maternity services across the country.

[Jo White (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

My mum was a midwife, and as a child I lived vicariously the life on a maternity ward. She worked to the very highest standards possible, and used to come home and talk to me about sloppy standards, falling standards and insensitivity. What happened at NUH is the lowest of the low, and I send my thoughts and condolences, and pay tribute to the families, and to the staff who tried to whistleblow. The memories of the babies must never be forgotten; it is our responsibility to ensure that those memories live forever.

I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh). She came here with the dedication, commitment and desire to ensure that this report was done. So often she spoke to me about it, and so often she has had conversations with her Nottinghamshire colleagues about what she is doing. We have tried to support her all the way through, and I am so proud to be with her today. I believe this House should congratulate her on her commitment and dedication, to what happened to her child, and to the lost babies and the support she has given to those families. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]

My ask of the Secretary of State is to follow this through, so that the recommendations are implemented, reported on and monitored. I welcome his announcement that he will use the Hillsborough law to ensure that those who have failed to give evidence or to come forward are forced to do so.

[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.