Letter to Health Secretary: National Maternity Crisis

Maternity services across the UK are in crisis. Deaths and injuries are rising, wards are crumbling, and staff morale is at an all-time low. The Care Quality Commission has warned of a “potential normalising of serious harm,” with 65% of maternity units failing to meet basic safety standards.

This situation is unacceptable. Families in Surrey Heath and across the country deserve better. Liberal Democrat MPs have written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care calling for urgent action now, not after yet another review. The letter calls for:

• Restoring ring-fenced funding for maternity care, reversing cuts from £95 million to just £2 million
• Immediate implementation of the Ockenden Review’s recommendations and other existing inquiries
• Tackling staffing shortages and expanding the maternity and neonatal workforce
• Improving women’s health before and after childbirth, including reinstating Women’s Health Hubs nationwide
• Addressing shocking disparities in maternal outcomes, with a cross-Government strategy to eliminate inequalities
• Recording miscarriages and guaranteeing support after every miscarriage, not just after three

Britain should be the safest place in the world to have a baby. The Liberal Democrats believe the Government must act without delay.

Read full letter below →