Parents Demand Expansion of Sussex Baby Deaths Inquiry
Bereaved parents have issued a stark warning to Health Secretary Wes Streeting that an ongoing inquiry into preventable baby deaths in Sussex will fail to learn crucial lessons because it has systematically excluded dozens of affected families. The review, which currently focuses on just nine infant deaths at the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, is being criticized as dangerously narrow and potentially harmful.
Families Call for Broader Investigation
Families are urgently calling on Streeting to expand the investigation to include all babies who died and might have survived with better care. To date, the families of more than 60 babies who died between 2019 and 2023 have expressed serious concerns about their treatment, with the true number expected to be significantly higher. These parents argue that the current opt-in structure of the review is fundamentally flawed.
Dr. Marija Pantelic, a public health expert whose baby Sasha died under the trust's care in January 2022, emphasized that the review's limited scope risks distorting the findings. "If you only hear from certain groups, you will only see certain problems," she stated. "For instance, you can be sure not to identify racism if you only hear from white families. If you fail to identify the real drivers of harm, the solutions you propose will be partial at best, and harmful at worst."
Concerns Over Health Inequalities
Pantelic, an associate professor specializing in health inequalities, highlighted that the review currently reflects the experiences of an overwhelmingly white and British group of parents who have come forward. This raises significant alarms about the inquiry's ability to address broader systemic issues. Official data shows that Black women are more than twice as likely to die in childbirth compared to their white counterparts across the UK, with women from Asian backgrounds also facing higher risks.
"The current opt-in structure of the Sussex review will systematically exclude those least able to navigate the system, and most likely to have experienced harm," Pantelic explained. "The result is a dangerous distortion. Those at greatest risk are least visible in the evidence. This means the harm is often underestimated, and we end up misunderstanding what is actually causing it."
Demands for Ockenden-Led Review
Parents are advocating for an expanded investigation to be led by Donna Ockenden, the senior midwife overseeing maternity inquiries into preventable deaths at NHS trusts in Nottingham and Leeds. They also insist that the Sussex investigation must actively seek out all affected families, rather than relying solely on the nine cases where parents have raised alarms.
Furthermore, families express concern that the NHS trust's response—which includes recruiting 40 new midwives to address vacancy rates—assumes understaffing is the core issue. They fear a narrow review risks missing larger structural failings within the maternity care system.
Government Response and Next Steps
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson responded, "Families have endured unacceptable failures in maternity and we are committed to ensuring the review process itself does not add to that burden. Their experiences and wishes will shape a review that they can have full confidence in, which is based on evidence and uniquely tailored to Sussex. We will be updating the families on progress soon to ensure the review will deliver the answers and accountability they deserve."
Dr. Pantelic plans to raise these critical concerns directly with Health Secretary Wes Streeting during a meeting with bereaved families scheduled for Wednesday. The outcome of this discussion could determine whether the inquiry is expanded to properly address the scale of the tragedy and its underlying causes.
