By Professor John Robertson OBA
Someone shared this link with me but I can’t find them now so apologies to them.
From Recurring red flags: a retrospective study of MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance (2015–21) to identify maternity services most consistently reporting higher-than-average deaths in Journal of Public Health, February 2025:
This study aimed to identify hospital trusts in England most consistently reporting higher-than-average rates of extended perinatal mortality (EPM), including stillbirths and neonatal deaths.
We conducted a retrospective study of MBRRACE-UK Perinatal Mortality Surveillance Reports (2015–21) comparing EPM rates for births occurring in 124 hospital trusts in England between 2013 and 2019. Utilizing MBRRACE-UK definitions and designations, including coloured bands (red and amber indicate higher death rates), we devised a scoring method to determine which trusts most consistently reported higher-than-average rates of EPM throughout seven years.
and:
We identified 23 (18.5% of 124) ‘red flag’ trusts most consistently falling into MBRRACE-UK red and amber bands.
https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pubmed/fdaf019/8025951
Scotland’s media have yet to find a Scottish health board to match these. You can be sure they’d love too.
The Sunday Post, in August 2024, had:
One hundred and thirty one families have suffered devastating baby deaths and catastrophic injuries to infants and mothers at maternity units across Scotland in recent years, it can be revealed. https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/baby-deaths-and-injuries/
The researchers above give no raw data only percentages and the Sunday Post gives no percentages.
I tried searching for ‘Scotland maternity special measures’ and found only this:
Failing maternity units operating for more than 200 days before special measures put in place – https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/failing-maternity-units-operating-for-more-than-200-days-before-special-measures-put-in-place/ar-AA1symWP?ocid=BingNewsVerp
England.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
It’s certainly something to add to the anti-privatisation argument, more and more info kept hidden or misreported to imply everything is fine or to pile the blame on individual responsibility. I don’t know if you read this yesterday http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/04/the-rainham-volcano-arnolds-field-toxic-fires-waste-dump, after reading this Britain doesn’t feel like a forward looking democratic country where people matter at all.
Slightly despairing of the state of the world today
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Thanks Brenda
Saw the headline but unless I spot a Scot/Eng comparison opp, I rarely read. Before the blog I read more widely than I do now!
John
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Fair enough, no-one could keep up with everything especially now, so many good writers around now reporting on important stuff. I think this article struck a chord as we had recently watched Toxic Town, another Mr Bates type dramatisation which is well worth catching if you get a chance
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