There are a lot of things we know about NHS maternity: that it’s in crisis, that there are a lot of reports confirming that it is in crisis, that there are even more recommendations from those reports on how to end that crisis, and that despite all that, very little has yet changed on maternity wards.
The topic came up again at Prime Minister’s Questions today, with Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey asking for a second week running about a troubled maternity unit. Last week, it was North Devon’s maternity ward, which remains closed. This week, he asked about Musgrove Park in Taunton, which Baroness Amos recently described as ‘the most challenging maternity estate in the country, including leaking roofs, poles propping up a ceiling and dangerous room temperatures’. Davey asked: ‘Does the Prime Minister agree that Musgrove Park cannot wait until 2033 for work to start on a new maternity unit? Will he offer a meeting to local MPs, so we can move it forward? And will he make fixing the maternity scandal across our country a top priority of his Government?’
They are particularly concerned that given one of the systemic problems in maternity is an ideological one about ‘normal birth’
Burnham said the Taunton hospital ‘points to a systemic challenge facing maternity services across the country, as various reviews have said’. He said the Health Secretary Yvette Cooper would be chairing a meeting of the maternity taskforce next week.
Cooper and her ministerial colleagues have also announced this week that they will be amending the Health Bill when it comes to the Lords to establish England’s first statutory maternity commissioner. This is expected to include powers to demand documents and other information from NHS trusts, and a response on why changes aren’t being carried out. It’s something that some campaigners have been pushing for, given there are other established commissioners in other areas, including the Victims Commissioner, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, and the Children’s Commissioner.
Other campaigners, though, aren’t sure whether this role will be worth the vellum the legislation is written on, let alone the public money for the office. They are particularly concerned that given one of the systemic problems in maternity is an ideological one about ‘normal birth’, if the appointment goes to a figure with a sympathy for this ideology, then it will never address the cultural problems in NHS maternity units.
There is also another point worth exploring about all these commissioners. Some of them have proven to be excellent advocates who push and challenge government, and offer a voice to people with little power, whether that be victims of crime, women at one of the naturally vulnerable stages of their lives, or children. Claire Waxman, for instance, has been highly critical of the government’s handling of the early release scheme for prisoners. But what, beyond statements and interviews – which are undoubtedly important – does a commissioner have in terms of real power to hold public services to account that parliament itself shouldn’t already be able to wield? We do not know the full structure for the maternity services commissioner, and perhaps they will be able to act to work out why it is that we have around 800 recommendations from maternity inquiries that are yet to be carried out – and maybe even how to carry out the ones that are sensible. But then again, perhaps they will represent another layer of advocacy and representation that, in the end, tells us something we already know: that maternity services need to change. The problem is not one of awareness, it is now one of action.
Comments