Group Chief Executive invited to join national Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce | News

Louise Stead, Group Chief Executive of Royal Surrey and Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, will join an important new national Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by the Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting. 

The taskforce has been established to deliver urgent actions and improvements in response to the recommendations of Baroness Amos’ independent investigation into maternity and neonatal services in England.

The 17-member taskforce brings together families, senior NHS leaders, royal college representatives, campaigners and academics, who collectively have the lived experience, clinical experience and sector know-how to deliver the necessary changes. 

Their first roundtable discussion will be chaired by the Health Secretary next week where the panel will hear from Baroness Amos on her interim findings.

Louise’s expertise was sought after leading Royal Surrey’s Maternity Department to be rated ‘Outstanding’ and Ashford and St Peter’s Maternity Services ‘Good’ by the Care Quality Commission.

Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals is also home to the region’s Level 3 (highest level) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which cares for the most critically unwell babies and last year received outstanding results across four measures of care in the National Neonatal Audit Programme. 

Royal Surrey’s Special Care Baby Unit has also been at the forefront of several key safety initiatives, including its Neonatal Outreach Service, which supports families of premature babies once they are discharged from hospital. This service enables treatments such as phototherapy and IV antibiotics to be delivered at home, helping to reduce readmissions to hospital and Emergency Department attendances. 

In addition to overseeing urgent actions arising from Baroness Amos’ investigation, due to be published in June, the taskforce will also respond to other recent developments in maternity and neonatal care. This includes recommendations from the Thirlwall Inquiry and the independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Louise said: “It is an honour to join the national Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce and play a role in driving improvement across all maternity services. 

“There are examples of excellent maternity and neonatal practice across our group every day and our teams work incredibly hard to deliver safe, compassionate care. However we know there is always more we can do locally and nationally and sharing best practice to drive high quality, equitable, care for all women and their babies is essential.  

“I look forward to working with members of the taskforce to drive meaningful improvements and ensure the best possible outcomes and experiences for women, babies and families.”