UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting has appointed Donna Ockenden as Chair of the Independent Review of Maternal and Neonatal Services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.[1][2] The inquiry was announced in October 2025 following repeated failings in care, with Leeds being one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe with higher perinatal mortality rates according to MBRRACE-UK data.[1] Ockenden is currently leading a review of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and has experience investigating Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust.[1] The decision follows a campaign by families and members of parliament after the initial rejection of her appointment.[2] From next month, the government will start working with families to develop the terms of the review, with individual clinical reviews starting in August 2026.[1] A BBC investigation in Leeds last year found that the deaths of at least 56 children and two mothers over the past five years could have been prevented.[2]