CQC Maternity Services

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its full report following an inspection of maternity services at University Hospitals of North Midlands in March 2023.

The CQC inspects services provided by healthcare providers against five domains – safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Our Maternity Service was inspected against two of the five domains – safe and well-led – and was moved from requires improvement to be rated as inadequate in safe and moved from good in well-led to requires improvement. The overall rating for maternity services moved from Good to Requires Improvement. The overall Trust rating is not affected and remains Requires Improvement.

The Trust anticipated this outcome, having received a Regulation Section 29A warning notice from the CQC regarding immediate concerns about maternity services following the inspection.

We already have a programme of improvement work to implement the recommendations of the Independent Maternity Review (known as the Ockenden review) and this includes actions required from the CQC inspection.

Today Ann-Marie Riley, UHNM Chief Nurse, said: “Delivering safe, high-quality care to women and their families is always our priority and we work closely with our teams and our Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership to ensure we continually improve experiences for those who use our services.

“We recognise the issues highlighted in the report and took immediate action to improve maternity triage processes, while continuing to improve staffing levels by investing in additional midwifery staff to support the care received by those giving birth and their families.

“We are continuing to work hard to not only implement further improvements but to ensure they become embedded. We remain committed to delivering the highest standards possible for the people using our services.”

 

Notes to Editors

The CQC highlighted areas of good practice in maternity services, including:

 

  • The service-controlled infection risk well and managed clinical waste well.
  • Staff kept detailed care records and they managed medicines well.
  • The leadership team were visible and approachable in the service for women and birthing people and staff.
  • Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work.
  • Most staff felt respected, supported,  and valued. They were focused on the needs of women and birthing people receiving care.
  • Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities.
  • The service engaged well with women and birthing people and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.