England maternity commissioner role would be ‘fundamentally dangerous’, says campaigner

According to the Guardian, Emily Barley — whose daughter Beatrice died at Barnsley hospital in two thousand twenty-two — is warning that a key recommendation in the government's Amos review on maternity care is fundamentally flawed. The review proposes a national maternity commissioner, but Barley, founder of the Maternity Safety Alliance, says that won't address the systemic failures harming mothers and babies. What's needed instead, she argues: overstaffing and restructuring maternity triage services for faster response; automatic independent investigations when families distrust hospital inquiries; a system where hospitals admit errors immediately rather than contest claims; and rooting out the racism embedded throughout maternity care. Her conclusion: one oversight commissioner won't fix a broken culture.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton