Leeds maternity review, Women vets, The term 'rough wooing'

Leeds maternity review, Women vets, The term 'rough wooing'

Author: BBC Radio 4 March 11, 2026 Duration: 57:17

The health secretary Wes Streeting has appointed senior midwife Donna Ockenden to lead a review into maternity and neonatal services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The appointment came after a sustained campaign by bereaved and harmed families who said that she was the only one they trusted to lead the review into failings in Leeds. BBC reporter Divya Talwar tells us about breaking the story and Donna Ockenden joins Nuala McGovern to discuss her new appointment as well as her ongoing review into Nottingham university hospitals.

We look at the changing gender split in the veterinary profession, 61% of working vets are women and 80% of recently qualified vets - what's behind the shift? Dr Christianne Glossop is Honorary Professor and Honorary Fellow at the Royal Veterinary College and Wales' first Chief Veterinary Officer, she joins Nuala.

During World War One, women working in munitions factories formed football teams. They would sometimes play in front of thousands of people, until the Football Association banned women's football in 1921, a ban that lasted for 50 years. This is the focus of a play at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, The Ladies Football club. One of the stars is Ellie Leach, formerly in Coronation Street and who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2023. She joins Nuala alongside director Elizabeth Newman.

Dr Amy Blakeway, Senior Lecturer in 16th Century Scottish History at the University of St Andrews, talks to Nuala about the history of the term 'rough wooing', and why she thinks its time we stopped using it.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Helen Fitzhenry


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