Leeds maternity services downgraded to inadequate

According to a BBC report, maternity services at two Leeds hospitals have been downgraded from “good” to “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) due to significant risks to women and babies. The CQC was prompted to make an unannounced inspection of the Trust following concerns raised by parents.

The CQC found breaches in risk management, safe environment, learning from incidents, infection control, medicines management, and staffing during inspections in December 2024 and January 2025.

The BBC reported that they spoke to 67 families who say they experienced inadequate care at the Trust, including parents who say their babies suffered avoidable injury or death. They also spoke to five whistleblowers who stated that the previous CQC “good” rating did not accurately reflect reality.

There were 170 reported “red flag incidents” related to staffing issues between May and September 2024. The Trust plans to hire 35 newly qualified midwives and additional leadership roles.

Families and whistleblowers reported inadequate care, avoidable injuries, and a culture of blame within the Trust. Some families are calling for an independent review and a national inquiry into the safety of maternity care.

The CQC has told the Trust to take immediate action to improve.

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has committed to improving maternity and neonatal services, acknowledging the need for urgent action to ensure safe and compassionate care.

Amanda Cavanagh, Associate in the Ashtons Legal Medical Negligence team, comments: “Having babies is, without doubt, the most wonderful but also worrying time for parents. It is unimaginable that for some of those parents and babies, the failures in care caused avoidable harm or, in some cases, death. It is tragic and sadly follows a trend throughout the country of failures in maternity care”.

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