Government accused of ‘suppressing’ concerning maternity report

Leading campaigners have accused ministers of “suppressing” a report that is understood to set out significant concerns raised by families harmed by their experiences of maternity care investigations.

The Maternity Investigations and Review Tools Process evaluation was commissioned by ministers in 2025 following concerns raised by parents about national review processes undertaken following late miscarriages, stillbirth, and neonatal deaths.

The MATREP project carried out an independent evaluation of Perinatal Mortality Review Tool investigations carried out by trusts and those conducted by the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations programme.

HSJ understands the project, run by University of Manchester researchers, was completed and received by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) by mid-2025.

But the report’s findings, said to include complaints from parents about MNSI and PMRT processes, have still not been made public.

A DHSC spokesman said it was “considering the findings and recommendations” and that researchers were “able to share” these if they wished.

However, bereaved families disputed this and said the report was being suppressed, while researchers said they could not put the report into the public domain yet because it was still going through a publication process.

Read full story (paywalled)

Source: HSJ, 13 October 2026