Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 10 March 2026.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting appoints Donna Ockenden to lead the independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s maternity and neonatal service.

• Secretary of State for Health and Social Care appoints Ockenden to lead independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s maternity and neonatal services. 
• Follows repeated maternity failures in Leeds, one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, and the announcement of an independent review in October 2025. 
• Decision reflects families’ own asks, following direct conversations with the Secretary of State.

Families in Leeds are closer to seeing lasting change following the appointment of senior midwife Donna Ockenden to lead an independent review into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. 

The Health and Social Care Secretary spoke this morning with the families, where he set out that this decision has been made with the aim of building the confidence of all the families who have been harmed. It’s the third time since September that the Secretary of State has met with the families.

Ockenden brings extensive experience as a nurse and midwife, alongside her track record of uncovering systemic failings in maternity care – having examined maternity practices at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust – and is currently chairing the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust maternity review.

From next month, the government will kickstart work with families to further develop the terms of reference for the review, with individual clinical case reviews set to begin from August 2026. 

The government has taken significant action to overhaul maternity care over the last 18 months, including a rapid national investigation into maternity and neonatal services in England led by Baroness Amos, who published her interim findings on 26 February 2026. 

The Secretary of State will also launch the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, taking the national investigation’s recommendations and turning them into a concrete plan for real, lasting change. 

Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said: 

Donna Ockenden is an outstanding advocate for families whose voices have not always been heard, and I’m delighted to appoint someone so trusted by those who have been repeatedly let down by the NHS.  

To the families in Leeds, I want to say thank you for your openness during our detailed discussions in recent weeks, and the courage you continue to show in sharing your experiences and advocating for lasting change, so other families do not experience the unimaginable tragedies you have gone through.  

This review must deliver for you, and for the sake of all families, who rightly expect to receive safe and high-quality maternity care in the NHS. Donna Ockenden’s leadership will bring us closer to the lasting change so desperately needed in Leeds.

Donna Ockenden said:

It is an honour to have been asked to chair this review, and I feel a profound sense of responsibility to the parents, babies and healthcare professionals it concerns to ensure that we get this right.

This review must remain firmly focused on the families who, in many instances, have waited far too long for answers to questions about their care. My priority will be to listen carefully to families and staff, to understand what has gone wrong, and to ensure that the lessons are learned and the changes required are made, in a timely way, thus ensuring that all mothers, their babies and families receive safe, high-quality perinatal care.

The Leeds family maternity group said:

It has been a long, drawn-out and emotionally draining process to get the assurances that this investigation will be handled with the appropriate methodology and care that it needs.

We are grateful that Wes Streeting has listened carefully to all of the evidence we put to him about our concerns and why Donna Ockenden should be appointed as chair. We believe she has the experience, independence and determination required to uncover the truth and deliver meaningful accountability and change.

The independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s maternity units was announced by the Secretary of State in October last year, following repeated maternity failures. Despite being one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust remains an outlier on perinatal mortality according to MBRRACE-UK data.  

The review will focus on identifying areas of concern within maternity and neonatal care at the trust, with recommended actions to help improve the safety, quality and equity of maternity care.

While the terms of reference for the review are yet to be agreed, we expect the review to involve case reviews of stillbirths, neonatal deaths and serious incidents, hypoxic injuries and maternal deaths over a 15-year timeframe (1 January 2011 to 31 December 2025).  

Following the successful approach in Nottingham, the inclusion of cases in the review will be based on an opt-out basis, meaning that all families who meet the terms of reference will automatically be included unless they choose otherwise, ensuring that no voices are missed. 

It will also look at the governance, accountability and handling of concerns at the trust when they are raised by women and/or their families and staff members. 

Final decisions will be made following further engagement with Donna Ockenden and families.

While the time-reporting timescale for this review will be confirmed in due course, learning and recommendations will be shared on an ongoing basis with the trust, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to allow rapid action at all levels to improve the safety of maternity care. 

The vast majority of births on the NHS are safe and women should continue to attend all maternity appointments. Women and families are encouraged to raise any concerns with their midwife or healthcare team without hesitation. 

The appointment of the chair of the Leeds independent review follows a suite of measures this government has taken to improve maternity care. Since July 2024, we have:  

• invested over £131 million in 122 infrastructure projects  across 49 NHS trusts to improve safety of neonatal care facilities
• implemented a new programme to reduce the 2 leading causes of avoidable brain injury during labour
• piloted Martha’s Rule in maternity and neonatal units in 14 trusts across 6 regions to give patients and families the right to request a second opinion
• launched a package of initiatives and interventions to reduce stillbirths, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death and preterm birth
• introduced a Perinatal Culture and Leadership Programme to develop a culture of safety, learning and support for leads from all maternity and neonatal units
• created targeted schemes to promote midwife retention and the Graduate Guarantee, so that every qualified nurse and midwife in England can apply to join the health workforce. The latest workforce stats show that, as of November 2025, there are 31,024 midwives working in the NHS, which equates to 25,530 full-time equivalent midwives
• expanded maternal mental health services to help women and extended the Baby Loss Certificate scheme to include all historic losses
• rolled out guidance across the NHS to tackle the leading causes of maternal death including thrombosis, mental health, epilepsy and haemorrhage
• launched an anti-discrimination programme and a system to better identify  safety concerns

NHS England has published an inequalities dashboard, which will support the identification of areas where specific populations face the greatest disparities, enabling tailored interventions and more equitable support.

The Secretary of State:

• has ordered a national maternity investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos. The aim of this rapid, independent investigation is to develop one set of national recommendations to drive improvements in maternity and neonatal care across England and reduce inequalities in the delivery of these services
• will chair a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce shortly. The taskforce is specifically designed to ensure the investigations’ recommendations translate into action

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 10 March 2026.

Boost for patients as the government bolsters the dental workforce by thousands.

• Thousands more dentists will be available to see patients as government helps clear backlog of those waiting to take professional registration exams
• First sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly 2 decades will also allow 50 more dentists to be trained every year from 2027
• Training places to be targeted in so-called dental deserts where patients often have to fight through their teeth to get an appointment

Thousands more dentists will be available to see patients, opening up appointments across the country by boosting places on 2 professional registration exams.

As it stands, thousands of fully qualified dentists from overseas who are often already living in the UK are unable to practise because of limited exam capacity.

In a huge boost for the dental workforce, a total of 2,400 more overseas-trained dentists, many of whom are already living in this country and waiting for the opportunity to help, could be registered annually from 2028 to 2029. 

Thanks to new government investment, final exam places run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England will be increasing nearly tenfold, allowing up to 1,350 overseas-trained dentists to join the General Dental Council’s (GDC) register annually by 2028 and be available to provide dental services – including NHS treatments – in the UK. 

At the same time, the GDC will significantly expand the number of places on its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE), meaning more than 1,000 overseas-trained dentists are expected to join the register annually through this route by 2028 to 2029.

It comes alongside an increase of training places for home-grown dentists, prioritising so-called dental deserts that do not currently train dentists.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said:

No one in the 21st century should be left in a situation where they cannot access a dentist.

That is why today’s announcement is crucial, as training more dentists and allowing greater numbers of those qualified overseas to practise will put more patients in dental chairs, receiving care when they need it most.

These investments show this government is serious about rebuilding NHS dentistry and laying the foundations to make it fit for the future.

Backed by a one-off £420,000 grant the Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS) exam, an exam that overseas-trained dentists can take in order to practise in the UK, is being massively expanded, with places on the final part of the exam being increased tenfold from 180 to 1,800 by 2028. 

The GDC’s clinical part of its ORE will increase to 1,500 places, which is expected to deliver more than 1,000 more dentists on the register by 2028 to 2029.

Dr Charlotte Eckhardt, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at RCS England, said:

RCS England is pleased to work with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to increase the number of places for candidates sitting the LDS examination. This expansion will support more candidates, strengthen the dental workforce and help improve public access to dentistry.

Tom Whiting, Chief Executive and Registrar at the GDC, said: 

Our top priority has been to increase the capacity of the ORE, and I’m pleased that we can offer greater certainty and scale through this new contract. This is good news for candidates. 

More ORE places, along with more students at dental schools and the increase in capacity for the LDS, is great news for the dental workforce and, in turn, patients and the public. 

Sustainable change requires a long-term plan, and working with others, we are committed to playing our part, to support any workforce strategy, including building a comprehensive framework to support international recruitment.

And in a first for nearly 20 years, an extra 50 dentists will be trained in England every year from 2027, with the Office for Students having been asked to prioritise these new training places in so-called dental deserts that do not currently train dentists, for example in rural and coastal areas, where getting an appointment has long felt like mission impossible. 

Dr Katie Petty-Saphon, Chief Executive of the Dental Schools Council, said:  

We are pleased that the government has recognised the urgent need to grow the dental workforce at a time when access to NHS oral healthcare remains a significant challenge for many patients.

Each year, dental schools are forced to turn away talented applicants who show great potential and this increase will allow more future NHS dentists to be admitted.

Dental schools look forward to working with the government to support this expansion, ensuring recruitment follows best practice in widening participation while training NHS-ready dentists and addressing geographical gaps in access to care.

This action is just the beginning, as the government strives to fundamentally reform the dental contract by the end of this Parliament, with a focus on ensuring funding goes where it is needed most, helping more people to get appointments and properly rewarding dentists and their teams for the vital work they do. 

For too long, patients have often had to make the agonising choice between going without dental care, or paying through their nose for private treatment.

Today’s announcement demonstrates the government’s unwavering commitment to solving this issue and is part of the government’s wider strategy to shift the focus from sickness to prevention, as part of the 10 Year Health Plan.

Neil Carmichael, Executive Chair, Association of Dental Groups (ADG), said:  

This is excellent news that ultimately will benefit patients as well as put energy into the dentistry profession. We should soon see an increase of overseas-trained dentists, who are now able to take the robust examinations, joining the GDC’s register – and providing NHS treatments.

The ADG has been pushing for some time for the bottleneck in the registration examination for international dentists to be addressed, having highlighted the craziness of having over 5,000 trained dentists from overseas waiting in the queue to qualify, while we have 2,700 dentist vacancies and not enough home-grown dentists to fill the gap.  This is a creative approach to get things moving and we applaud DHSC’s efforts and agility.   

Increasing UK dental school places is also fantastic news. A career in dentistry is an exciting and rewarding one that UK students should be encouraged to pursue. As always, ADG stands by to advise policymakers and stakeholders to keep the momentum going and ensure that we target the most urgent patient needs in dental deserts.

Eni Muco, an overseas‑qualified dentist from Albania living in the UK and waiting to sit the ORE, said:

I qualified as a dentist in Albania in 2013 and ran my own practice before moving to the UK in 2021 to build a life with my husband. 

I joined the ORE candidate list in 2023 but, after 7 failed attempts to book Part 1, I still can’t sit the exam. The uncertainty has caused financial strain, anxiety and difficult family decisions. 

Expanding exam capacity, fairer allocation and provisional registration would let dentists like me contribute and support the NHS.