This week our host, former MP and Chair of the UK Birth Trauma Inquiry in Parliament, Theo Clarke, is joined by Hannah Barnes, Investigations Editor at the New Statesman, to discuss their special investigation: “Britain’s Next Maternity Scandal?” – an in-depth look at the rising concerns around safety, staffing, and accountability across maternity services at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Topics that we discuss on the show include: the shocking findings from the New Statesman and Channel 4 recent investigation into the state of maternity care in Oxford; why maternity safety is once again under scrutiny; how repeated warnings are being ignored across the NHS; how the voices of families affected by preventable tragedies are not being listened to; what systemic issues are driving failures in care; and how the Government needs to take urgent action to improve maternity care.
Biographies:
Hannah Barnes is the Investigations Editor at the New Statesman. She previously worked at the BBC. She is an award-winning journalist and author of Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for Children (Swift) – a Sunday Times Bestseller and shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford and Orwell prizes.
This podcast is sponsored by the law firm Irwin Mitchell.
DISCLAIMER: This show is not intended to be medical advice – please seek advice from a GP or doctor.
Instagram / TikTok: @newstatesman X / Twitter: @hannahsbee @Theoclarkemp Website: www.theo-clarke.org.uk/podcast
Breaking The Taboo production team:
Producer: Natasha Feroze
Researchers: Max Austin and Elliott Malik
Designer: Emily Ryder
Social Media: Bella Carter
Studio Manager: Adam Woodward
Studio: Studio 55, part of Wolfe Power Club
