Political opinion with Alison Bennett MP: Justice delayed for Sussex families must still be justice delivered

Last Wednesday, I sat alongside bereaved and harmed families from the campaign group Truth for Our Babies - set up by bereaved parents whose babies died as a result of Trust failings- in their meeting with Secretary of State Wes Streeting to discuss the inquiry into our local maternity services.

It was a moment that marked progress, but one that came far too late for many of the families involved.

After two years of determined campaigning, the Secretary of State has finally accepted these parents’ call for a full independent review of maternity services at the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. The Trust is responsible for four hospitals including the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath, and the Royal Sussex in Brighton.

Crucially, the review will be chaired by Donna Ockenden, the highly respected midwife who has led similar inquiries into maternity failings elsewhere in the country. Her appointment matters, as families need confidence that their experiences will be taken seriously and examined with the rigour and independence they deserve, by somebody whose professional opinion they trust.

Supporting these families has been a humbling experience. What began as a group of nine families has grown to more than sixty, a collective united by the devastating belief that their babies’ lives could have been saved with better care. While I and other Sussex MPs have raised their concerns repeatedly in Parliament, last week’s breakthrough is the result of the families’ persistence, courage and refusal to be silenced.

So, this announcement by the Secretary of State was the right one. However, I was angry that these families had to fight so hard to get here. It should not have taken so long for the government to agree to their terms and for these grieving families to finally be listened to. They should never have been put through this on top of the unimaginable loss they have already suffered.

Next month the full terms of reference for the review will be published. With Donna Ockenden as chair, we can now be confident that she will be forensic in getting to the truth. This matters not just for these families, but so that we can have maternity services here that the public has full confidence in.