Midwife chief apologises over Morecambe scandal

The nursing regulator has apologised to families affected by the Morecambe Bay scandal, admitting that it did not listen or act fast enough to concerns raised about midwives, subsequently putting mothers and babies at risk.

Philip Graf, chairman of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, told the health select committee: “We completely accept our responsibility … there were midwives practising who maybe should not have been.”

The committee is examining the handling of the midwives embroiled in the scandal, where major care failures were linked to the deaths of at least 12 mothers and babies at Furness General Hospital between 2004 and 2012.