A rapid review of England's National Health Service maternity care services found that providers are not set up to deliver consistently safe or compassionate care [1].
The findings highlight deep systemic failures within the healthcare system. The report suggests that the current structure of maternity services fails to protect patients and allows discrimination to persist, which may lead to poorer health outcomes for marginalized groups.
Baroness Valerie Amos led the review, which was commissioned to examine systemic failures and racism within the service [1]. The report identified unacceptable levels of racism and discrimination in how maternity care is delivered across the country [1].
According to the review, the services lack the necessary framework to ensure high-quality care for all patients [2]. This failure is not isolated to a few clinics but is described as a systemic issue affecting the broader NHS maternity infrastructure [3].
The review emphasizes that the presence of discrimination creates an environment where patient safety is compromised [1]. Because the system is not designed for consistent quality, the report calls for urgent reforms to dismantle these barriers, and ensure equitable treatment for all mothers [2].
Amos said that the current state of affairs cannot continue [2]. The report serves as a call for immediate structural changes to ensure that racism is removed from the clinical environment and that safety standards are applied universally [3].
“NHS maternity care services are not set up to deliver consistently safe, high‑quality and compassionate care”
The Amos review signals a shift from viewing maternity failures as isolated clinical errors to recognizing them as systemic human rights and safety issues. By explicitly linking racism to a lack of patient safety, the report pressures the UK government to move beyond policy tweaks toward a fundamental restructuring of how maternity care is governed and monitored in England.
