Emily Townsend

NHS executives and other staff who refuse to engage with investigations into maternity care failures could be sent to prison for up to two years under new government proposals.

Families affected by the Nottingham maternity scandal have hit out at the "abhorrent" leadership of "senior staff" as the government revealed that staff who refuse to engage with future investigations could be sent to prison for up to two years.

The chair of several high-profile safety inquiries has resigned from the government's national maternity review just ahead of publication, in a dispute over "normal birth ideology", HSJ can reveal.

Ministers should create a new specialist unit to assess maternity services because the Care Quality Commission does not have the credibility to do so, a government review has concluded.

An expert who resigned from the national maternity review in a dispute over its stance on "normal birth" ideology has warned misuse of such an approach and its impact on patient safety "should not be airbrushed away".

The CEO of NHS England has ordered trust boards to enforce joint accountability for maternity between medical directors and chief nursing officers, following criticisms of "siloed" leadership in major reviews.

The government has revealed its preferred candidate to be the next chair of the Care Quality Commission, as a cross-bench peer who has overseen major national healthcare reviews.

A medical adviser to the national maternity and neonatal taskforce has been asked to leave by ministers after they recognised "the depth of family concern" about his appointment.

A trust has been slow to provide records to an inquiry examining more than 2,000 deaths, because it underestimated the resources needed, its former CEO has admitted.

Hospitals are persisting with using variable methods and tools to measure the growth of unborn babies, which experts say is leading to avoidable deaths, HSJ can reveal.