Yvette Cooper to create national maternity plan after Lucy Letby scandal

Yvette Cooper is set to reveal a national maternity plan called the Healthy Babies programme amid fears that babies and children deaths are not being properly tracked by the NHS.

The health secretary has told allies that she was shocked to discover that the UK has not had a maternity plan since 2012, after it was cancelled during the Tory/ Lib Dem NHS reforms and austerity.

But the fallout of the Lucy Letby case has underlined an emergency in keeping track of the deaths of babies and a lack of accountability in the NHS.

The move is part of a major reworking of the British state by Andy Burnham’s government after the prime minister gave a speech where he outlined significant change in the country.

The Healthy Babies programme will be expanded to all local authorities with the Sure Start principles of a more integrated approach to family support. This means every authority will be able to support parents with infant feeding, their mental health and building strong bonds with their babies, alongside health visiting, midwifery care and wider services.

In her speech, Ms Cooper is expected to say: “Since the election, Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell have been working to rebuild family hubs across the country, bringing back support for parents and for young children.

“But something is missing. In half of communities, compared to the last time round, the healthy babies services – mental health support for mums and dad, the feeding and bonding support for your new baby. That changes now.

“I can announce we will bring back the Sure Start health services into every family centre. Reaching up to 1,000 hubs over the next two years.

“One of the Labour Party’s greatest achievements restored to families throughout the land.”

With further family hubs opening, they will reach more than 1,000 hubs across England by 2028.

Ms Cooper worked on a national maternity plan when she was in the New Labour government under Tony Blair but it was killed off under the Tory/ Lib Dem coalition in 2012 amid controversial reforms of the NHS and austerity moves.

Allies of Ms Cooper have told The Independent that she “has been genuinely shocked” at discovering the lack of nationwide standards in the NHS regarding maternity services and the treatment of babies.

“One hospital she came across records the deaths of adults but does not record those of babies and children,” an ally said.

They added: “This is not a one off in the system and all too often maternity outcomes and the treatment of children is not used as a benchmark over whether NHS trusts are succeeding.”

The case involving former nurse Lucy Letby, who was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester between June 2015 and June 2016, has highlighted the lack of tracking of baby deaths in the service.

With Letby’s convictions being considered for appeal, Ms Cooper does not want to comment on the case but she is said to have made clear to officials that the report into the way the NHS trust in Chester failed to properly keep track of the deaths has highlighted the problems in the system.

“The health secretary believes that the system needs to respond better when high levels of tragic cases like this are taking place in a trust,” an ally noted.

The Thirwell inquiry into what happened at the hospital concluded that senior executives, including former chief executive Tony Chambers, medical director Ian Harvey, and director of nursing Alison Kelly, prioritised the hospital’s reputation over infant safety, withheld information, and delayed involving the police for a year.

It also said that whistleblowing doctors faced toxic negativity, threats, and pressure to apologise to Letby, while affected parents were kept in the dark.

Chaired by Lady Justice Thirlwall, the statutory inquiry examined events between 2015 and 2018 across more than 1,100 pages, focusing on governance, NHS oversight, and how concerns were handled rather than reviewing Letby’s underlying criminal convictions.

The issue of maternity care is also an important part of trying to track domestic abuse and violence against women and girls with pregnant women making up a high proportion of victims.

Ms Cooper is expected to unveil her plans in her speech on the last day of the Labour conference where she will also address the major reforms needed to set up a national care service championed by the prime minister.