The state of care in England’s maternity services (BMJ, 20 November 2023)

Summary

The latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on the state of care in England is far from an encouraging read.1 Although the healthcare system is under serious strain, maternity services are among the areas identified as especially challenged. The problems identified in maternity care, while shocking, come as no surprise. The sector is seeing repeated high profile organisational failures and soaring clinical negligence claims, together with grim evidence of ongoing variation in outcomes, culture, and workforce challenges and inequities linked to socioeconomic status and ethnicity. In this BMJ Editorial, Mary Dixon-Woods and colleagues discuss why it's time for a fresh approach to regulation and improvement.