Responding the Care Quality Commission State of Care Report 2025, Sandy Lewis Programme Director at MNSI said:

“The CQC State of Care 2025 report highlights the ongoing pressures facing maternity and newborn services across England.

“Our investigations and the safety recommendations we issue, reflect many of the challenges identified by CQC. They reinforce the urgent need for the maternity and newborn system to focus on improving patient safety, strengthening learning cultures, and reducing health inequalities so that women, babies, and families experience care that is truly safe.

“During recent engagement with NHS trusts, some told us that while MNSI recommendations and findings can support safety improvements, they do not always have the skills or capacity to implement them fully. Our understanding of this issue is limited, as it is based on feedback from a relatively small number of survey respondents. However, it may reflect wider challenges identified in the report, which highlights that although most midwives feel able to report errors, near misses, or incidents (90.7%), only around half are confident their concerns will lead to action (55.1%). This gap between raising concerns and seeing change represents a key safety risk, and one that MNSI will continue to help the system address through its investigations, recommendations, and thematic learning.”

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