Daily Archives: 26 February 2026

NHS maternity units often cover up harmful errors in childbirth, report finds

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/26/nhs-england-maternity-cover-up-childbirth-report

Recent rises in older motherhood and obese women having babies have contributed to maternity care becoming more complicated. Photograph: Jeff Gilbert/Alamy

Damning inquiry into services in England reveals falsification of medical records after ‘negligent’ care

Hospitals that cause harm and injury to women and babies during childbirth often resort to a “cover-up” of their mistakes, falsify medical records and deny bereaved parents answers, a damning report has found.

“Negligent” care has devastating emotional and psychological consequences for families, disputes between maternity staff have a “disastrous” impact on mothers, and ethnic minority and poorer women have worse outcomes because of racism and discrimination, Lady Amos said.

Recent rises in older motherhood and obese women having babies have also contributed to maternity care becoming more complicated, the ex-Labour cabinet minister added in a report the government commissioned amid mounting alarm about NHS childbirth services in England.

“The system is not working for women, babies and families, or for staff,” Amos concluded after spending months talking to hundreds of families and maternity staff.

“We have seen maternity and neonatal services trying to respond in difficult circumstances and dealing with competing pressures but too often failing to deliver the safe care that women, families and babies expect and deserve, at times with devastating consequences.”

NHS trusts continue to provide poor care because they are doing too little to improve its quality and safety as a result of not learning lessons from previous maternity scandals, she added.

Lady Amos, who chaired the investigation.
Lady Amos, who chaired the investigation. Her final report is due in the next few months.

“It is a source of continuing distress to families, and great frustration to staff, that the areas identified in previous reviews and investigations as requiring action do not seem to have been addressed or have only been partially addressed. This cycle must stop,” she said.

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/26/nhs-england-maternity-cover-up-childbirth-report

Continue ReadingNHS maternity units often cover up harmful errors in childbirth, report finds

‘Magic beneath the surface’: pioneering geothermal plant launched in Cornwall

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/26/cornwall-new-geothermal-project-launches

Equipment at Geothermal Engineering Ltd, the UK’s first geothermal power and lithium production plant. Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

A new mini power station and lithium extraction facility near Redruth are set to bolster green energy and create jobs

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From Thursday, the Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) plant near Redruth will feed electricity created by tapping into hot granite rocks to the National Grid and extract lithium from the mineral-rich water used in the process.

The switch-on, the first of its kind in Britain, has been welcomed by the government, which sees projects like this as a way of bolstering energy, and by people from Cornwall, who take pride in their mining heritage and hope for an economic boost in a deprived part of the West Country.

Ryan Law, chief executive of GEL, said he was overjoyed at the launch, which has been almost 20 years in the making. “To finally reach this point is exciting – and a bit of a relief,” he said.

GEL says the plant will generate enough renewable electricity to power 10,000 homes, with the plan to open more, bigger sites in Cornwall.

Within a decade it says it will be producing enough lithium carbonate, a key material used in the production of rechargeable batteries, to supply about 250,000 electric vehicles a year.

Law said it had been difficult at times in the past to make the argument to politicians and investors that it was sensible to drill more than three miles into the reservoirs of very hot water (about 190C) found in faults in the granite in this part of Cornwall.

“With any first technology, you’ve got to convince everyone,” he said.

“But it’s like someone has built this enormous nuclear power station underground. We are just tapping into the heat that’s generated.”

Though getting to this point has been a slog, Law said the actual process of generating heat and extracting lithium was relatively simple.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/26/cornwall-new-geothermal-project-launches

Continue Reading‘Magic beneath the surface’: pioneering geothermal plant launched in Cornwall