The families describe a "tick box" and "wait and see" culture at the trust, plus a lack of compassionate care. This has been echoed by whistleblower Lisa Elliott, who worked at the two sites in 2023. Describing the care as "appalling", she highlighted a failure to listen to patients. "That's when disasters happen, and a lot of them can be avoided," she said.
Bereaved parents say they are concerned that the trust's chief executive during the period most of the deaths occurred is now leading the regulator, saying this could affect its independence in investigating LTH Trust.
The trust told the BBC the vast majority of births at Leeds were safe, and deaths of mothers and babies were fortunately very rare. They added that Leeds cares for a higher volume of babies with complex conditions as it is one of a "handful of specialist centres" in the UK.
The families are calling for an independent review into LTH Trust to ensure issues are identified and lessons learned. They also want an independent, judge-led public inquiry to help improve maternity safety across England because of wider concerns about the standard of care.
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