Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Accepted
Costs for infant and child injury claims, particularly maternity brain injuries, significantly increased.
Recommendation
Over the last 20 years the cost of settling claims involving infants and children has increased significantly. The highest-value claims are typically those associated with brain injuries suffered in maternity care. In 2024–25, costs for these claims were £1,554 million, and costs for paediatric claims were £325 million.36
Government Response Summary
The government agrees to learn lessons from failures in maternity care and address systemic failings, aiming for implementation by Winter 2026-27, including a national investigation, the National Maternity and Neonatal Planning Framework, best practice resources, and the Maternity Outcomes Signal System.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4. PAC conclusion: The Department's failure to address problems with maternity care in England has led to avoidable harm and unnecessary costs. 4a. PAC recommendation: The Department and the organisations it funds need to learn lessons from its failure to improve maternity care in England. Where problems arise the Department and the wider NHS should look for systemic failings in care and tackle these problems at their cause. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Winter 2026-27 4.2 The Secretary of State announced a rapid, national, independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care to help understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies and families experience unacceptable care. The Investigation will bring together the findings of past reviews into one clear national set of recommendations, including local investigations of maternity and neonatal services in selected trusts. 4.3 The National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by Secretary of State, will transform the Investigation’s recommendations into a new national action plan to drive real change. 4.4 DHSC is not waiting for the recommendations to improve services. NHS England’s Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out the requirement for all Integrated Care Boards and providers to take immediate steps to improve care, ensuring that progress is already underway ahead of the national action plan. 4.5 The introduction of best practice resources, including the maternal care bundle, new approaches to avoiding brain injury, a new maternity triage specification and roll out of the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, will help improve safety and consistency across services. NHSR’s Maternity Incentive Scheme continues to work with trusts to deliver safer maternity care and reduce cases of brain injuries or other harm. 4.6 The Maternity Outcomes Signal System, has been implemented across all trusts from November 2025, allowing near real time monitoring of key indicators and prompt timely safety reviews. 4.7 In January 2026 the Maternity and Neonatal Inequalities Data Dashboard was published, which will give leaders clearer insight into variation and emerging risks.