Avoidable baby deaths are 'a badge of shame' on the NHS trends now
Bereaved families are having to report maternity blunders because watchdogs and hospitals are unable to spot failings, an expert has warned.
Bill Kirkup said avoidable deaths were 'a badge of shame' but would continue without urgent change.
Eight years on from his report into the Morecambe Bay maternity scandal, he said the failure of officials to act had needlessly cost more lives.
'I am very disappointed – and surprised – that we're still where we are,' he said.
'That's a terrible badge of shame for the health service that it takes families to come and tell us what's wrong.
Bill Kirkup said avoidable deaths were 'a badge of shame' but would continue without urgent change. Eight years on from his report into the Morecambe Bay maternity scandal , he said the failure of officials to act had needlessly cost more lives
'I am very disappointed – and surprised – that we're still where we are,' Bill Kirkup (pictured) said. 'That's a terrible badge of shame for the health service that it takes families to come and tell us what's wrong'
'Yet just about every tragedy that I've ever been involved with investigating has come to light when there's a group of families who say "You've got a problem here".
'People are lying, they're not being open and they're concealing what's happening.
'If we can't bring this change, I'm not confident that there won't be another East Kent, Morecambe Bay or Nottingham, somewhere else.'
Dr Kirkup said cover-ups, toothless regulators and the absence of proper scrutiny of maternity outcomes meant picking the next scandal was like 'finding a needle in a haystack'.
He said an accountability law was needed to put a duty on public bodies to tackle, rather than conceal, potential issues. Coroners should also be given jurisdiction over stillbirths, allowing failures to be fully investigated, he added.
Dr Kirkup led the inquiry into East Kent maternity services last year and was involved in both the Hillsborough and Jimmy Savile investigations.
His inquiry into the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust found 20 major failures from 2004 to 2013 at Furness General. These led to the unnecessary deaths of 11 babies and a mother.
He had hoped his 44 recommendations would bring meaningful change to maternity care
