'Toxic cover-up' culture in NHS a risk to mothers and babies, says health chief

Harm to mothers and their babies is at risk of being normalised owing to a "toxic" culture of "cover-up" in the NHS, the head of the doctors' regulator will say.

Charlie Massey, chief executive of the General Medical Council (GMC), will tell delegates at a conference that "something must have gone badly wrong" for one in four trainee doctors to feel fearful of speaking up.

In a speech seen by the PA news agency, Mr Massey will tell the Health Service Journal patient safety congress in Manchester: "That doctors are making life and death decisions in environments where they feel fearful to speak up is profoundly concerning.

"Those are the very factors that lead to cover-up over candour and obfuscation over honesty. And it is in those cultures that the greatest patient harm occurs."

Maternity care is "one of the most high-risk and high-pressure areas of medicine", he will continue.

"One where the consequences of things going wrong can be especially tragic and far-reaching, affecting both a mother and her baby, not to mention their wider family."

GMC shows that 27% of obstetrics and gynaecology trainees said they have felt hesitant escalating a patient to a more senior medic - a higher proportion than in other areas of medicine.

The specialty also has above-average rates of workload stress, bullying and doctors who feel unsupported by colleagues, according to the findings.

Mr Massey will say the data "suggest[s] a situation where, too often, patient safety is falling victim to unhealthy culture".

"The unthinkable - harm to mothers and their babies - is at risk of being normalised," he will add. "And toxic culture is in no small part to blame."

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Mr Massey will call on employers to recognise their role in ensuring workplaces promote a sense of belonging and inclusion among staff because "behind these statistics lie real people, real tragedies".

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has launched a national maternity investigation into what he sees as "systemic" failures in NHS care.

He has said families who have lost babies at the hands of the NHS have often been "gaslit" in their search for the truth.

The investigation is expected to conclude in December. A National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce made up of experts and bereaved families, and chaired by the health secretary, has also been set up.

(c) Sky News 2025: 'Toxic cover-up' culture in NHS a risk to mothers and babies, says health chief