Dr Bill Kirkup CBE: Learning lessons from past enquiries (FabStuff podcast, 12 July 2025)

Summary

In this podcast Niall and Roy talk to Dr Bill Kirkup CBE, who has headed some of the major enquiries into failing NHS services, including paediatric cardiac surgery in Oxford. Liverpool Community Services, and the high-profile investigations into maternity services at Morecambe Bay and East Kent Hospitals.

In a frank discussion, Bill reveals that he does not believe enquiries have made things better or stopped the pattern of failure. He says that since his investigation into Morecambe Bay the problems in maternity have appeared at an accelerating rate. And he is adamant that while these enquiries can help to expose what has gone wrong in a particular Trust and provide vindication for families, they are not equipped to bring about improvements. Bill argues that the failings identified in these Trusts are systemic and national, not particular and local. They are symptoms of wider cultural problems.

He is also scathing about the value of the operational recommendations that have come out of some enquiries. He points out that there are now literally hundreds of maternity recommendations which has led to a situation in which Trusts have to employ people with clipboards just going round ticking off which ones they have done.