'A culture of cover-up when things go wrong', Health Secretary says maternity services must change after 'devastating' review
The review revealed that women and families are too often "not listened to, heard or believed"
The Health Secretary James Murray has described a "culture of cover-up" within maternity services in the UK after a review found pregnant women were "ignored" before losing babies.
Listen to this article
The Amos review, led by Baroness Valerie Amos, found that women and babies have suffered repeated failings across NHS maternity services.
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Mr Murray described the findings as "deeply devastating" and said there was a "culture of bullying and intimidation".
The report heard evidence from more than 450 families and received over 10,500 responses to a public call for evidence and gathered evidence from more than 9,000 NHS staff across 12 maternity units with poor safety records.
Read more: 'Outdated' NHS buildings causing problems for staff and patients during heatwave, warns BMA
Read more: Who is James Murray? Starmer loyalist named health secretary
Mr Murray said: "There is a culture of cover-up at the top level when things go wrong, there is a culture of ignoring women and not acting on their concerns.
"There is too often a culture of bullying and intimidation within the workforce, and I think that is what fundamentally needs to change."
He added: "It's so shocking and so deeply devastating when you hear the pain that families have been through.
"The scale of this is shocking and is a deep-seated problem."
The review came less than a week after Donna Ockenden's inquiry, which found more than 500 mothers and babies suffered avoidable harm or died because of "deeply embedded systemic failures” at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Mr Murray also called the end of the junior doctors strikes a chance for the government to "build better relationships" with the British Medical Association (BMA), the Health Secretary has told LBC.
Resident doctors in England voted to accept a pay deal on Monday, reportedly including more training jobs, faster pay progression, and the ability to cover out-of-pocket expenses, including exam fees.
The agreement will bring to an end to three years' worth of strikes following back and forth between the government and the BMA.
He told Nick it's good news for not just resident doctors, but also for other NHS staff.
"Many of them have been doing amazing work covering NHS services during the doctor strikes but crucially, it's good news for patients.
"We now have the opportunity to have a new relationship with resident doctors where we are focused on improving the NHS and delivering the services that patients deserve."
Thousands of patients have seen operations and appointments cancelled in recent years amid a host of strike action.
Around 53% of eligible British Medical Association members voted in favour in a referendum, it's been revealed, with the turnout around 57% - equivalent to 32,932 doctors.
Mr Murray added: "The BMA said clearly yesterday that the strikes are over. We now have an opportunity to implement the deal that's been agreed.
"That's what I want to get on with, so that we use this opportunity to build a new, better relationship between the government and resident doctors."