The government has announced immediate actions to strengthen patient safety, safeguarding, and accountability across the NHS. This follows the publication of Lady Justice Thirlwall’s final report into the Countess of Chester Hospital, which identified serious failures in governance, leadership, and safeguarding.
Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that safeguarding must be central to the NHS and expressed profound apologies for the failures detailed in the report. The government has initiated work on several measures while it fully considers the Inquiry’s recommendations.
These measures include urgent work to develop plans for CCTV, such as "cot cams," in neonatal settings to improve safety and reassure parents. Other actions involve new guidance on the safe use and storage of insulin, strengthened guidance for Medical Examiners reviewing neonatal deaths, and plans to regulate NHS managers through a barring scheme.
The national Bereavement Care Pathway for families experiencing neonatal loss continues to be rolled out, with all NHS trusts now signed up. A single tracker is also being created to monitor the delivery of recommendations from major maternity and neonatal reviews and inquiries.
The Health and Social Care Secretary also chaired her first meeting as Chair of the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which aims to translate recommendations from the Ockenden and Amos reviews into an action plan for care transformation, due to be published this year. The government will publish its full response to Lady Justice Thirlwall’s recommendations after detailed consideration.