DHSC to roll out national maternity dashboard to address failings

The Department of Health and Social Care will roll out a national maternity dashboard, as part of measures to address failings in care.

Speaking at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists World Conference on 23 June 2025, health secretary Wes Streeting announced a national investigation into maternity and neonatal services.

“Over the last year, I’ve been wrestling with how we tackle the problems in maternity and neonatal units.

“And I’ve come to the realisation that while there is action we can take now, we have to acknowledge that this has become systemic.

“It’s not just a few bad units up and down the country.

“Maternity units are failing. Hospitals are failing. Trusts are failing. Regulators are failing,” Streeting said.

He also flagged issues with “enormously wide race and class inequalities” in maternity care.

“Women, especially black, Asian, and working class women, are not listened to or given the chance to be advocates for their own health,” he said.

To address this he announced a package of measures to “start taking action now”, including a new digital system which will be rolled out to all maternity services by November 2025 to “flag potential safety concerns in trusts and support rapid, national action”.

“We’ll roll out the new MOSS digital system to flag potential safety concerns and trust much earlier, and support rapid action and roll out a national maternity and neonatal inequalities data dashboard,” Streeting said.

Streeting launched a “rapid national investigation of maternity and neonatal services” modelled on Lord Darzi’s investigation into the state of the NHS.

He said that this would be an evidence-based investigation setting out what is going wrong and priorities for action, look in detail at up to 10 maternity units that are the greatest cause for concern.

Streeting also announced the creation of a National Maternity and Neonatal Task Force, bringing together experts, staff, campaigners and representatives of families to help drive improvement across the NHS.

Commenting on the plans, Angela McConville, chief executive at National Childbirth Trust, said: “This investigation has been won by the determination of bereaved families who have bravely spoken out about the devastating failures in NHS maternity care. 

“The immediate investment package is a vital start to tackling deep-rooted inequalities, training frontline staff and improving the UK’s worst performing services. 

“The national investigation must now move at pace to set out a clear, actionable plan for every NHS maternity and neonatal unit.

“We’ve seen first hand the power of co-creating solutions with women and parents. Real change can happen if the government listens, learns and builds a well-resourced, safe and equitable maternity system that works for all.”

Dr Clea Harmer, chief executive at Sands, said: “We look forward to working with the Secretary of State on this much-needed and long-overdue programme and to ensuring that concrete steps are taken towards real accountability and lasting systemic change.

The announcement of an independent review of maternity services follows a series of high-profile failures in maternity care across several NHS trusts.