Staff fear of speaking up is making maternity care unsafe

Credit: istock/adamkaz

To truly improve maternity services, we don't need more paperwork or targets. We need to give frontlife staff real freedom to raise concerns without fear of repercussions.

Over the past 20 years, numerous inquiries into maternity care have promised to “find answers”, “learn lessons”, “do better” and “provide justice”. What they actually produce is more paperwork, more regulations, more targets, more compliance schemes and more criticism for frontline staff. What makes for effective political soundbites rarely leads to better clinical outcomes.

This silence isn't just unfair, it's dangerous

This takes a huge psychological toll on frontline staff. Not only do they have to deal with whatever complaint, tragedy or litigation claim is underway, but they are also expected to continue working whilst under investigation, intense scrutiny, and public criticism, as though none of this affects them personally or professionally.

This silence isn't just unfair, it's dangerous.

The concept of psychological safety, now widely recognised in healthcare settings, offers a framework for understanding why our current approach is failing and what we need to change.