We know that the today’s coverage reflects the deep upset felt by a number of families, and that it may also be concerning for those people who are due to give birth soon, and those around them. Given that, we want to speak openly and compassionately about what has been reported.
Transparency matters, and so does acknowledging the real experiences of the women, babies, and families at the heart of this.
Below is our full statement, with additional detail in the notes.
Dr Andy Heeps, Chief Executive, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust:
“No words can truly express the heartbreak of losing a child. To every family who has experienced this unimaginable loss, I want to say directly: we did not always get things right. As Chief Executive, I take responsibility for that, and I am deeply sorry for the pain and distress you experienced while under our care.
“Our purpose is simple: to provide the safest possible maternity care. To do that, we must listen to women and families, learn from moments where care has fallen short, and support our staff to make meaningful improvements.
“In 2021–2022, we agreed to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) conducting a detailed investigation into a number of neonatal deaths, to enable a greater understanding what was happening. We acted immediately to give families answers, to learn, and to make changes..
“Since then, we have strengthened our maternity services in several important ways. We have recruited 40 additional midwives across our four maternity units, bringing us to full staffing. We have increased theatre capacity for planned caesarean births. And we have introduced a dedicated telephone triage service, staffed by highly experienced midwives whose sole focus is making safe, timely decisions about when women should come into hospital.
“These changes are making a difference. Our teams are proud of the progress we’ve made together and of the positive feedback we receive from families.
“But we also know that no improvement can erase the grief families have lived through. We recognise there is always more to do. We welcome the scrutiny brought by Baroness Amos through the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, and we hope that the separate review of individual cases will help provide answers and drive further improvements.”
About our maternity services
- Up to 9,000 babies are born each year across our four main maternity units.
- Perinatal mortality: MBRRACE data shows that our perinatal mortality rate has fallen to 2.19 per 1,000 births (October 2025), down from around 3 per 1,000 in April 2024. Over the past three years, our rate has remained well below the national average and is now less than half the latest national benchmark (4.7 per 1,000).
- Staffing: We have recruited 40 new midwives, eliminating a vacancy rate that was over 20% three years ago.
- Theatre access: We have increased dedicated theatre capacity for planned caesarean sections.
- Telephone triage: Our improved triage service is now staffed by highly experienced midwives. Since March 2024, there have been no cases where telephone triage issues have affected outcomes, and no complaints about the service.
- CNST compliance: We achieved full CNST compliance for 2022/23 and 2023/24, and have submitted a fully compliant declaration for 2024/25.
You can read more about our ongoing improvements into maternity services on our website and as a Heyzine flipbook.
Note:
This page was updated on 30 March, 2026 to clarify that the 2021-22 investigation being referred to was carried out by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (this function is now known as Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations, hosted by the Care Quality Commission), rather than by the Trust itself, as was initially stated.