2025: Week 48 - Maternity Care and Shared Lives

A national review into Maternity care has revealed failings much worse than originally anticipated. The Ockenden Report, which was chaired by Baroness Amos, has shown that new mothers were left hungry, wards were not cleaned properly and staff from some units received death threats. 

This is a national scandal. It is heartbreaking and completely unacceptable that this trauma is being normalised.  Some women reported feeling that they were blamed for the deaths of their babies, while others stated that they experienced a lack of empathy or even apologies when their labour and birth went wrong.

For too long women, babies and families have been failed by years of successive neglect under the previous Conservative Government and now by Labour’s woeful inaction. 

There must be no more delay. The Government must urgently take decisive steps to make maternity wards safe, including reversing their cuts to ring-fenced funding for improving maternity services, along with implementing all the recommendations and actions from the Ockenden Report. 

The Ukraine Peace deal that Trump claimed to have brokered has still not materialised.  Zelensky is, quite rightly, refusing to cede any land in order to appease both Trump and Putin.  It is crystal clear that the only 'peace' Putin will accept is one which carves up Ukraine's territory, destroys its sovereignty, and leaves it open to future Russian invasions.  We cannot let that happen.  The UK must give Ukraine the leverage it needs - now - to stay in the fight and push back Putin's forces.  That means using the £30 billion in frozen Russian assets in this country and sending them to Kyiv to fund its defence.

A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to host an event in Parliament to showcase the Teignbridge based charity Shared Lives South West and its innovative approach to adult social care. I was glad to see MPs from all parties in attendance to hear about this fantastic approach to social care.

Shared Lives South West – rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission -supports adults with learning disabilities, mental health needs, and age-related conditions by matching them with trained carers. These carers open their homes to provide personalised support that promotes independence, in a model often likened to adult fostering.

I first met the CEO of Shared Lives South West, Dominic Spayne on a podcast around 18 months ago. Since then, I have become a committed advocate for the charity and I have seen first-hand how their care model can change lives. 

The Shared Lives model is a win-win solution for social care with proven and known benefits for carers and the people in need of care. I want to see more local authorities working to support this model for social care across the UK.

I am hoping that my continued support for Shared Lives South West, along with the Parliament event will drive greater national recognition and support for the scheme, enabling more adults across the UK to benefit from this life-changing model of care.