Chichester MP calls on government to improve maternity services

On Tuesday morning, Jess Brown-Fuller, Liberal Democrat MP for Chichester, reinforced the urgent need for reform in maternity services before government ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care during a Westminster Hall debate.

Jess, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Primary Care, highlighted the critical failings identified in multiple reports and called on the government to take decisive action to improve maternity care and outcomes for mothers and babies.

As part of her ongoing commitment to improving maternity and neonatal care in her constituency, Jess Brown-Fuller recently visited St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester. She noted significant improvements since a 2021 CQC report rated its maternity services as requiring improvement and was reassured by the hospital’s commitment to implementing the necessary changes.

Jess urged the government to provide a long-overdue update on its commitment to maternity care improvements, questioning why the promised response to the Ockenden Report had not yet been delivered. She also called for reforms, including extending the statute of limitations for maternity negligence cases, recording all triage phone calls, and improving communication with bereaved families.

“For years, we have heard tragic stories from across the country of avoidable baby deaths due to poor maternity care. Despite most births taking place in a safe environment, the government has for too long refused to address the systemic issues leading to poor care in exceptional cases,” Jess said, adding that “like much of the NHS, midwives are hugely overworked. The government must urgently address the retention and training crisis in the profession to relieve staffing pressures.”

The MP added that “Like many people across the country, I have learned about the challenges facing perinatal care through the tireless work of Donna Ockenden, a Chichester resident. I asked the government whether it is committed to implementing all the immediate and essential actions from the Ockenden Report, and I implore Wes Streeting to do so as soon as possible.”

Jess thanked “all the families who gave up their time to share their stories and remind me that those babies were people, not statistics. They are loved, they are missed and they deserved better.”