'Families have lost trust over maternity inquiry'

Families failed by maternity care at an NHS trust have "lost trust" in the health secretary to oversee an independent inquiry, MPs have said.

Wes Streeting announced an inquiry into "repeated failures" after a BBC investigation revealed the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH) over the past five years may have been prevented.

MPs have written a letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling on him to intervene and appoint senior midwife Donna Ockenden to chair the investigation.

Ockenden is currently leading the inquiry into Nottingham maternity services - which is examining about 2,500 cases of failings - and she previously investigated failures at the Shrewsbury and Telford Trust.

Streeting said in October 2025 a thorough "Nottingham-style" investigation was required to understand what had "gone so catastrophically wrong" at Leeds' two maternity units.

But he subsequently announced publicly on a BBC Radio interview that Ockenden would not chair the inquiry at Leeds.

The letter, seen by the BBC, has been signed by three Labour MPs including Fabian Hamilton, Richard Burgon and Michelle Welsh – who is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for maternity - as well as the Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke and the independent MP Iqbal Mohamed.

It says Leeds bereaved and harmed families feel the public announcement "is nothing less than a complete betrayal of their trust" because families say Streeting had promised he would speak with Ockenden, and them first, before any news would be made public.

The letter adds it would be "unacceptable" to appoint a chair who has "an untested and unrefined methodology".

The MPs call on Starmer to "intervene and appoint Donna Ockenden to head the Leeds Maternity Inquiry, with immediate effect".

The letter also states that "Leeds families have lost faith and confidence in the Secretary of State for Health's handling of this inquiry".

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Source: BBC News, 11 February 2026