A new maternity leadership training programme has been launched following a review into baby deaths.

A report from the inquiry into deaths and allegations of poor care at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust highlighted a number of issues in maternity services, including a disconnect between “ward and board”.

As part of its response to the report, the Government has launched a new maternity leadership training programme to ensure that lessons have been learned from both the Ockenden Review and the Covid crisis.

Patient safety minister Nadine Dorries launched the £500,000 leadership programme for 700 NHS maternity and neonatal leaders in England.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the programme will equip maternity leaders with the skills and knowledge to improve workplace culture and facilitate greater collaborative working between nurses, doctors, midwives and obstetricians.

Alongside the programme, a new core curriculum for professionals working in maternity and neonatal services is being developed, the department said.

Ms Dorries said: “The shocking and tragic findings of the Ockenden Review highlighted the importance of strengthening maternity leadership and oversight as well as fostering more collaborative approaches within maternity and neonatal services.

“I’m pleased to announce a new training programme for NHS maternity leaders, which will empower nurses, midwives and obstetricians to get the best out of their teams, and deliver safe, world-class care to mothers and their babies.”

The inquiry, set up in 2017, identified seven “immediate and essential actions” needed to improve maternity services in England, including improvements in safety, staff training and improvements in care in a report published in December.

The report said that when completed, the review of 1,862 families “will be the largest number of clinical reviews undertaken relating to a single service, as part of an inquiry, in the history of the NHS”.