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Health Secretary Wes Streeting has today announced a national investigation into maternity care, to be delivered by Christmas.

Our health correspondent Ashish Joshi described it as a “powerful speech”, with Streeting “clearly troubled by the scandalous state of maternity services in this country”.

Ashish writes:

Streeting has spent the past year meeting bereaved families who have been failed by the NHS. 

He said he “was kept up at night” after listening to their harrowing testimonies. 

This review is modelled on the Darzi report into the NHS, commissioned by the health secretary almost as soon as he came into office. 

It will be “rapid”. The terms of reference for the investigation will be known by July; the report is expected to be published by Christmas. 

Streeting accepts this is an ambitious timeline but is driven by the fear that mothers and babies are still being failed, and he does not want “any deaths on his watch”. 

And he has not ruled out a future public inquiry, which is what the bereaved families have been demanding. 

Could this have been done sooner?

The biggest challenge for the health secretary will be to change the culture within maternity units. This has been identified as one of the biggest issues in previous reports by Bill Kirkup and Donna Ockenden. 

It’s why, Streeting said, he chose to make his announcement today at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ World Congress Day. 

What he said would have made for uncomfortable listening for some delegates, but he needs them on board to deliver on his promise to make maternity and neon natal care safe. 

The health secretary clearly has empathy. He has listened to the families torn apart by maternity failings. 

But if there is any criticism of his action, it is that it could have been taken sooner – up to six months ago. The failures across maternity services up and down the country have been known about for a long time.