Maternal Safety Strategy

Lord Patel Excerpts

Tuesday 28th November 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Patel (CB)]

My Lords, credit where credit is due: I commend the Government for this initiative. It was first suggested some years ago but that does not matter; it is here now. My question relates to the root cause analysis, which is rightly the way to analyse stillbirths that occur. It should take account of all the circumstances, including staffing levels, as mentioned. It is not just about the care itself. Can the Minister clarify how the system of doing root cause analysis of every stillbirth will work if, at the same time, a coroner is doing an investigation?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

I thank the noble Lord for his support for today’s announcements. Obviously, independent investigations are just that. They will be operated by HSIB, which will be able to delve into the causes of the tragedy, however it might have happened, and provide an opinion on that. On the interaction with the coroner’s report, obviously we have focused mainly today on these new independent investigations and we are looking at extending coronial law to take in stillbirths that were previously not included. That is one of the issues that needs to be worked out in the coming months through interaction with the Ministry of Justice.