The inquiry into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust makes for painful reading. Against the backdrop of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation’s forthcoming findings and the ongoing investigation into maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, it is clear that urgent improvements are needed in maternity and neonatal services across the country.  

While it is positive that families were closely involved in the Ockenden inquiry at Nottingham, we cannot underestimate the emotional toll sharing these experiences will have taken on patients and their families. We owe it to them to act on these findings – and to make the involvement of patients and families a routine feature of maternity and neonatal services. Only by listening to and acting on what patients tell us about their needs and their experience of care can we deliver a truly person centred NHS.