Our Chief Executive Clea Harmer has co-authored a comment piece in The Lancet, 'After the Ockenden review: a chance to reset maternal and perinatal care in the UK'.

Clea wrote the article with Dr Sarah Stock, Consultant Obstetrician at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, and Jane Norman, Dean at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol.

"The failings of maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust underline that we need a system in which health-care organisations understand the essential features of safe care, can recognise in near real time when these features are not present, and have the resources and culture to quickly address and help units in difficulty. Recommendations and guidelines are not working.

"Health-care leaders and professionals should be honest about these issues, and mobilise for change.

"Crucially, the complex issues around culture and leadership must be addressed with a focus on accountability, ending the damaging and pervasive blame culture, and ensuring women and their families are placed at the centre of care."

- Excerpt from 'After the Ockenden review', published in The Lancet

You can read the full article free of charge on The Lancet website.

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