Methodology

Between December and May 2025, NHS Providers gathered insights from 16 trust leaders from across England, in a variety of sectors, to gain understandings into the operational, workforce and systemic challenges that most directly impact service delivery and safety. Each engagement had a specific focus on how trusts are addressing health inequalities in maternity.

The engagement builds on earlier work by NHS Providers on safety, quality and inequalities in maternity services. In December 2023 and January 2024, we held two trust roundtables aimed at understanding how the support offered by NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services could be improved further. In June and July 2024, we held two peer learning events as part of our health inequalities programme (NHS Providers, 2024a) and provider collaboratives improving equitably programme (NHS Providers, 2024b) – findings from both events have been summarised in a long-read exploring the enablers required for improvement (NHS Providers, 2024c). Similar themes emerged across these conversations, including calls for increased funding and resource, alignment over national asks, workforce development, culture and leadership, and investment in patient access and engagement.