New maternity safety scheme is welcome, but NHS culture needs tackling
The rollout of the avoiding brain injury in childbirth (ABC) scheme across maternity units in England after a successful pilot has been heartening. It marks a bold and necessary response to a series of devastating public inquiries into NHS failings.
But the NHS's history is littered with ambitious initiatives that have faltered because of cultural resistance.
Healthcare professionals are stretched, under-supported, and weary of top-down directives that feel disconnected from the realities of clinical care. Implementing ABC will require more than guidance — it will require leadership at every level, protected time for training, and support systems that reward transparency over defensiveness.
The public inquiries included investigations into the maternity scandals at Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury & Telford, and East Kent, which repeatedly exposed systemic issues
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
Assura-PHP merger looks in good health
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Yet, while that cut the premium to the 'best and final' 50.42p cash bid from the infrastructure duo of KKR and Stonepeak to just 2.5 per cent, the choice for long-term investors has been clear for weeks. All KKR and Stonepeak are offering is a cash exit at Assura's net asset value of 50.4p a share at a cyclical low in the property market: scant reward for 22 years building its portfolio. It never looked enough to cash out. • NHS landlord Assura backs £1.7bn merger with rival PHP By contrast, PHP is offering a 48 per cent stake, plus a share in £9 million of synergies, in a bigger quoted healthcare Reit: one whose prospects are now being enhanced by lower interest rates and a spending review bringing an extra £29 billion a year for the NHS. 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The Guardian
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The Sun
2 hours ago
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