Hello, Maternity care hit the news again this week as Baroness Valerie Amos issued an update on her much-anticipated national review – warning that what she has found is far worse than she expected. She shared accounts of dirty wards and women left bleeding in bathrooms. Sadly, many women in the UK will have had similarly harrowing experiences of maternity care. My colleague Victoria Richards describes the shocking state of the labour ward – "covered in cockroaches" – where she gave birth to her daughter in 2012, while one Independent reader explains why they decided to seek private maternity care instead. |
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This week, the government formally announced a review into whether the UK is overdiagnosing mental health conditions, including ADHD and autism. The narrative pushed by health secretary Wes Streeting and the government centres on the idea that "overdiagnosis" is linked to the rise in people out of work. One detail notably missing from last week's announcement is that, just five weeks earlier, an NHS England taskforce review warned that ADHD is actually "underdiagnosed and undertreated". The taskforce's lead, Professor Anit Thapar, spoke to me following the announcement of the new "overdiagnosis" review. In an interview, she said: "I feel [the overdiagnosis review] takes us backwards to quite antiquated views on mental health and neurodivergence. We aren't doing this for obesity, we're not doing this for back pain, we're not doing this for asthma – why pick this?" |
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The health secretary has charged leading experts with finding out whether normal feelings have become 'over-pathologised' |
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Professor Thapar added that linking overdiagnosis with people being out of work "risks taking us backwards, really into an extremely stigmatising perspective on mental health and neurodivergence". "It is assuming that people with these issues don't work, and whilst there's a higher risk, the majority do, with the right support… it runs a risk of blame and discrimination of a population where there is quite a long history of injustice, so that is what concerns me." Several experts have also pointed out that there is more evidence suggesting ADHD and other mental health conditions are underdiagnosed. The ADHD taskforce report, published on 6 November, warned that access to support should not rely on – or require – a diagnosis, and that help should begin early in school or preschool. Criticism of the new review comes as the latest NHS data shows that, in 2025, up to 700,123 people were waiting for an ADHD assessment, with referrals in September 2025 rising by 20 per cent compared with September 2024. |
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How was your hospital birth experience? |
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Independent readers say it's no surprise that England's maternity services are in crisis, citing decades of underfunding, mismanagement and a culture that fails to listen to women as the root causes of today's tragedies. With that in mind, I want to hear from you: if you or your partner have had a baby on an NHS ward, what was your experience? Last week, I asked what you thought stops men from seeking therapy. The results were mixed: while 58% said fear of judgement was the main barrier, 21% pointed to a distrust of therapists, 13% said men may simply be unaware of the support available, and just 8% said they would prefer alternatives to therapy. |
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"At The Independent, we've always believed journalism should do more than describe the world – it should try to improve it.
This Christmas, we're asking for your help again as we launch our new campaign with the charity Missing People – the SafeCall appeal.
Every year, more than 70,000 children in the UK are reported missing. The misery that follows – for the child, for the family, for the community – is often hidden. Too many of these young people have nowhere to turn when they need help most. SafeCall will change that. Our goal is to raise £165,000 to help Missing People launch this new, free service – designed with the input of young people themselves – offering round-the-clock support, advice and a route to safety."
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