Leaders at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust (SWBH) have pledged to listen to families and enhance their maternity services following a harshly critical review.
Earlier this year, SWBH was among 14 trusts across the UK scrutinised in Baroness Amos’s final Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation report. The findings painted a “deeply concerning” picture, highlighting experiences of racism and discrimination reported by families and staff, as well as a neonatal mortality rate five per cent higher than comparable trusts.
At a joint meeting of the NHS Birmingham and Solihull (BSOL) and NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) Cluster Board, a video showcased the ongoing efforts to address these issues within the trust. Board members were reassured that measures have been implemented to improve outcomes.
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Initiatives at SWBH include engaging with faith groups, charities, and community ‘trusted voices’ to ensure women and families are heard. Their experiences and feedback will inform service improvements and drive change.
In response to the findings on racism, the trust has introduced new staff training programmes and established forums where families can share their experiences of maternity care at SWBH. Additional improvements such as enhanced accessibility across wards and departments aim to help patients navigate facilities more easily.
Claire McDermott, Director of Midwifery at SWBH, stated in the video: “I want to talk to you about how we’re listening to our women, families and communities and the things we are doing to try and improve our services. The Baroness Amos report unveiled things that were deeply disturbing and we do want to apologise to anybody that’s received care that falls below the standards. We know that rebuilding the trust of our families and communities won’t happen through words alone and we need to do this through action.”
Following the Amos review and other national investigations, the BSOL and Black Country Cluster Perinatal Improvement Programme was established. A report to the board detailed the need for stronger leadership, governance, accountability, safer care, improved data use, co-production with women and families, and efforts to reduce inequalities.
In response, maternity and neonatal improvement arrangements have been strengthened to align with NHS England’s Maternity and Neonatal 10 Point Plan and the emerging Regional Operating Model. Revised governance, oversight, and improvement programmes support the delivery of safer, higher-quality, and more equitable services.
The board was informed it could take reasonable assurance that effective governance, oversight mechanisms, and improvement programmes are in place across the cluster to manage identified maternity and neonatal risks. Significant work is underway, including enhanced performance oversight, perinatal mortality reviews, health inequalities initiatives, patient and family engagement, and provider-specific improvement programmes.
Further efforts are needed to fully align assurance frameworks, performance reporting, outcome measures, and system-wide accountability across the recently clustered system. Nevertheless, the revised arrangements provide a strong foundation for delivering national priorities and improving outcomes for women, babies, and families across Birmingham, Solihull, and the Black Country.
Members also learned that a recent Care Quality Commission inspection recognised significant improvements in maternity services at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, awarding it a ‘good’ rating.