The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) responds to the investigation, led by Dr Bill Kirkup, of maternity services at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Edward Morris, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said:
“We’d like to express our heartfelt condolences to the families whose experiences have led to the need for this review and our thoughts are with them today. Every maternal death or injury to a baby is tragic and it is truly heart-breaking to read about these devastating experiences within the report of the Independent Investigation of Maternity and Neonatal services in East Kent.
“The findings of the report are hard to read, primarily for the families, but also for the medical profession more broadly, especially following previous maternity investigations.
“We welcome the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation and together with the Royal College of Midwives will continue to work tirelessly to do all within our power to ensure high standards of care for all those needing maternity services. We are fully committed to making sure the recommendations from these reports, and the experiences of the families involved, lead to real change. We also recognise the need to create a system nationally and locally that allows for openness and steps away from a culture of blame, removing the barriers of fear that sometimes prevent real growth.
“Real change can only come if the scale of the issues are recognised and the required action takes place accordingly. We continue to call on the Government to provide the much needed long term funding for maternity services so that all women, babies and families get the safe, high quality maternity care they deserve.
“We will now consider how the important findings and recommendations from this report can be applied to existing RCOG activities and what further work may be required, to ensure no more families have to experience life-changing, avoidable outcomes in maternity care.”
ENDS
For media enquiries please contact the RCOG press office on +44 (0)7740 175342 or email pressoffice@rcog.org.uk.