National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation

Debate between James Murray and Anneliese Dodds

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

In the coming two weeks, I will be meeting the national taskforce, which I chair, to establish the scope and role of the new national maternity commissioner. I want to make sure that that is agreed with the taskforce. The taskforce will produce the action plan, which the commissioner will help to implement. I want to ensure that this is all done with the same principles in mind.

The hon. Lady also raised an important point about not only mothers being ignored, which they are far too often, but staff being ignored. A few Members have made that point today, and it bears repeating. We know that 9,000 staff contributed to Baroness Amos’s report, which underlines the fact that they want a better maternity service, too.

[Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)]

The lack of national maternity triage standards has been of huge concern to a number of my constituents, in some cases through bitter and heartbreaking experience. The Secretary of State said that NHS England would be responsible for rolling out and monitoring triage standards. Will that responsibility pass into his Department by April next year, and how will he ensure that those standards are genuinely implemented in every trust?

[James Murray]

My right hon. Friend is right to point to the impact that national triage standards can make by ensuring that when there are problems, the women concerned are seen earlier and those who need support can receive it at the right time, in order to prevent greater harm from occurring whenever possible. The national triage standards are currently being set out by NHS England, because that organisation still exists. The chief executive is meeting representatives of the trust today to begin the work of rolling out triage standards across all the different trusts. When NHS England becomes part of the Department for Health and Social Care, we will of course continue to monitor that, and the taskforce will also consider it as part of its national action plan.