𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kirstie Allsopp has slammed the Labour Government and issued a plea after Wes Streeting announced an independent inquiry into “repeated failures” at an NHS trust’s maternity units. Earlier this year, a BBC investigation unveiled that the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTH) could have been prevented. Wes Streeting said a thorough investigation was required to understand what had “gone so catastrophically wrong”. Channel 4 presenter Kirstie, who is best known for her role on Location, Location, Location, didn’t hold back when it came to expressing her views. Taking to X, she launched a plea and urged the Government to deal with the issue.

She said: “What has happened within UK Maternity Services has been a national scandal. We march in the street for lost babies in other countries, but turn away from what has happened & continues to happen right under our noses. God willing @wesstreeting & @DOckendenLtd can change this.”

One person replied to her in the comments section: “The whole of the @NHS is getting worse under @UKLabour. They have an extra £35billion but spaffed it mainly on wages. Little on productivity or service/care.”

A second also commented: “Why does it have to get to 70 families before there’s any kind of independent response. Avoidable deaths happen in every trust, and are just not investigated properly. Babies dying perinatally is ‘just one of those things’.”

A third simply typed: “NHS is broken,” whilst a fourth chimed in: “You should follow @Victoria_Rixon midwife whistleblower – women are being failed.”

The BBC were told that the two maternity units at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust are rated “good” by England’s healthcare regulator, but two whistleblowers have told the broadcaster they believe the units are unsafe.

Mothers Amarjit Matharoo, Lauren Caulfield and Fiona Winser-Ramm have been campaigning for years for an inquiry to be launched. The BBC has reportedly now spoken to more than 70 families who have described traumatic care, with some cases dating back more than 15 years.

The health secretary Wes Streeting, who met families on Thursday, said he was “shocked” by their experiences of “repeated maternity failures in Leeds.”

Announcing the review, Wes Streeting said there was a “stark contradiction between scale and safety standards is precisely why I’m taking this exceptional step to order an urgent inquiry in Leeds.”

He stated: “We have to give the families the honesty and accountability they deserve and end the normalisation of deaths of women and babies in maternity units.”