Statement on maternity inquiry

Following the announcement by the Government of a national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services on 23 June 2025, Jess Brown-Fuller has renewed her call for urgent action to improve maternity care.

Jess said:

"Too many families have suffered unimaginable losses due to failures in our maternity services in Sussex and across the UK. In advance of my debate in parliament on maternity services in England, I spoke to a number of brave families  who had suffered harrowing loses.

"While it is right to properly investigate why families are being repeatedly let down at their most vulnerable moments, this must not come at the expense of urgent action to improve care. Right now the Government seems to be merely paying lip service to maternity safety, slashing ringfenced funding and allowing the Ockenden review’s recommendations to be kicked into the long grass.

"The Immediate and Essential Actions from Donna Ockenden's 2022 review must be implemented without any further delay, to prevent more families from enduring avoidable heartbreak."

You can watch Jess Brown-Fuller lead the Westminster Hall debate on maternity services, held on 25 February 2025, here.

Jess Brown-Fuller outside St Richard's Hospital