Two maternity units at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals are rated ‘good’ by England’s healthcare regulator – but a BBC investigation reveals poor care may have contributed to 27 stillbirths, 29 neonatal deaths and two maternal deaths
The deaths of 56 babies and two mums at an NHS trust could have been preventable, a shock probe has found.
Two maternity units at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals are rated “good” by England’s healthcare regulator. But a BBC investigation reveals poor care may have contributed to 27 stillbirths, 29 neonatal deaths and two maternal deaths at the trust between January 2019 and July 2024.
Whistleblowers and grieving families have shared grave concerns, suggesting the units in question are fundamentally unsafe. Last night a spokesperson for baby loss charity Sands branded the situation “very concerning” and warned of too many preventable baby deaths happening across the country.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals has a neonatal mortality rate of 4.46 per 1,000 births – making it the highest in the UK. Babies aged 28 days or less are classed as neonatal.
Grieving families – who connected with other bereaved parents after setting up a Facebook group – are calling for an independent review into the trust and a judge-led inquiry to ensure lessons are learned. Among them is Fiona Winser-Ramm and her partner Dan, whose baby Aliona Grace died at Leeds General Infirmary in January 2020, 27 minutes after she was born.
An inquest found there had been a “number of gross failures of the most basic nature that directly contributed to Aliona’s death.” Dad Dan said: “Leeds say they’ve learned lessons, it won’t happen again. But it does, and babies keep dying, or being seriously injured, for similar reasons.” The couple claim regulator the Care Quality Commission has failed to hold the trust accountable.
Prof Phil Wood, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said the trust wished to apologise to the women and families who had shared their negative experiences. He highlighted its status as a specialist centre caring for “the most poorly babies”, adding that comparing neonatal mortality data with other hospitals “is fraught with difficulty and is misleading”.
Chris Dzikiti, CQC’s interim chief inspector of healthcare, said Leeds Teaching Hospitals’ maternity services have, and continue to be, subject to close oversight and that findings from a recent inspection will be published shortly. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government was determined to learn lessons from recent investigations to ensure women and babies “receive safe, personalised and compassionate care”.
