THE government launched a national investigation into “systemic” failures in NHS maternity services in England today.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that up and down the country “maternity units are failing, hospitals are failing, trusts are failing, regulators are failing” and there was “too much passing the buck.”

Mr Streeting, who has been meeting families who have lost babies to poor maternity care, made the announcement at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) conference in London.

He apologised on behalf of the NHS, having met families in Nottingham and around the country whose children have died or been injured.

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden is currently examining how hundreds of babies died or were injured in the care of Nottingham University Hospitals Trust.

Mr Streeting said: “Within the past 15 years, we’ve seen appalling scandals that blew the lid on issues ranging from care, safety, culture and oversight — Shrewsbury, Telford, East Kent, Nottingham.

“Inequalities in maternal and neonatal outcomes have become more visible, not less. The rate of late maternal deaths has been consistently rising.

“Babies of black ethnicity are twice as likely to be stillborn than babies of white ethnicity, and black women are still two to three times more likely to die during pregnancy or shortly after birth than white women.”

The investigation will begin this summer and report back by December.

A new digital system will be rolled out to all maternity services by November to flag potential safety concerns in trusts.

An anti-discrimination programme to tackle inequalities in care for black, Asian and other communities is also being launched.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said maternity services are “at, or even beyond, breaking point.”

RCM chief executive Gill Walton said: “Systemic failings and a lack of attention to the warning signs have let those families down and let down the hardworking staff who are trying so hard to provide the care they deserve.”

Professor Ranee Thakar, president of the RCOG, said: “The maternity workforce is on its knees, with many now leaving the profession.”

She said that “for years, maternity units have had too few staff, too little time for training and lacked modern equipment and facilities, resulting in women and babies being harmed.”

Prof Thakar urged the government to “not to lose sight of funding and workforce shortages within this.”