Trusts penalised for exaggerating safety standards

Dozens of trusts have been hit with financial penalties after regulators questioned their claims to be compliant with maternity safety standards.

The maternity incentive scheme, run by NHS Resolution, gives trusts “refunds” on their payments to its clinical negligence scheme if they meet 10 safety-related criteria, which trust boards must declare against each year.

The 10 requirements include appropriate staffing, reviewing deaths using a national tool, and board oversight of maternity services.

However, NHS Resolution can investigate if concerns are raised — for example in a Care Quality Commission inspection — and these conflict with the trust’s submission. The payments to trusts can then be withdrawn, or withheld if they have not already been paid.

HSJ analysis of data shared by NHS Resolution found 24 trusts had to make one or more repayments in the first four years of the scheme, which started in 2018 and was relaunched after the pandemic.

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Source: HSJ, 17 June 2025