Health Secretary Wes Streeting has appointed Donna Ockenden to lead the independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's maternity and neonatal service.
Ockenden brings extensive experience as a nurse and midwife, alongside her track record of uncovering systemic failings in maternity care - having examined maternity practices at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust - and is currently chairing the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust maternity review.
From next month, the government will kickstart work with families to further develop the terms of reference for the review, with individual clinical case reviews set to begin from August 2026.
Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said: "Donna Ockenden is an outstanding advocate for families whose voices have not always been heard, and I’m delighted to appoint someone so trusted by those who have been repeatedly let down by the NHS.
"To the families in Leeds, I want to say thank you for your openness during our detailed discussions in recent weeks, and the courage you continue to show in sharing your experiences and advocating for lasting change, so other families do not experience the unimaginable tragedies you have gone through.
"This review must deliver for you, and for the sake of all families, who rightly expect to receive safe and high-quality maternity care in the NHS. Donna Ockenden’s leadership will bring us closer to the lasting change so desperately needed in Leeds."
Donna Ockenden said: "It is an honour to have been asked to chair this review, and I feel a profound sense of responsibility to the parents, babies and healthcare professionals it concerns to ensure that we get this right. This review must remain firmly focused on the families who, in many instances, have waited far too long for answers to questions about their care. My priority will be to listen carefully to families and staff, to understand what has gone wrong, and to ensure that the lessons are learned and the changes required are made, in a timely way, thus ensuring that all mothers, their babies and families receive safe, high-quality perinatal care."
The Leeds family maternity group said: "It has been a long, drawn-out and emotionally draining process to get the assurances that this investigation will be handled with the appropriate methodology and care that it needs. We are grateful that Wes Streeting has listened carefully to all of the evidence we put to him about our concerns and why Donna Ockenden should be appointed as chair. We believe she has the experience, independence and determination required to uncover the truth and deliver meaningful accountability and change."
The independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s maternity units was announced by the Secretary of State in October last year, following repeated maternity failures. Despite being one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust remains an outlier on perinatal mortality according to MBRRACE-UK data.
The review will focus on identifying areas of concern within maternity and neonatal care at the trust, with recommended actions to help improve the safety, quality and equity of maternity care.
While the terms of reference for the review are yet to be agreed, the review is expected to involve case reviews of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and serious incidents, hypoxic injuries and maternal deaths over a 15-year timeframe (1 January 2011 to 31 December 2025).
Following the successful approach in Nottingham, the inclusion of cases in the review will be based on an opt-out basis, meaning that all families who meet the terms of reference will automatically be included unless they choose otherwise, ensuring that no voices are missed.
It will also look at the governance, accountability and handling of concerns at the trust when they are raised by women and/or their families and staff members. Final decisions will be made following further engagement with Donna Ockenden and families.
While the time-reporting timescale for this review will be confirmed in due course, learning and recommendations will be shared on an ongoing basis with the trust, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to allow rapid action at all levels to improve the safety of maternity care.
