Safety of maternity care at two NHS hospitals ‘inadequate’ as staff ‘pushed to the brink’

The safety of maternity care at two Midlands NHS hospitals has been rated “inadequate” , with “staff pushed to the brink” and mothers and babies put at risk.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) downgraded its rating of the safety of maternity care provided at Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) and Leicester General Hospital (LGH) following inspections in February and March. Both services were regularly understaffed, with patients put at risk as some waited more than six hours to see a doctor.

The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, which runs the sites, said it took the findings of the report “incredibly seriously” and was already making improvements.

It comes as campaigners say UK women are being “failed at every stage” when it comes to maternity care.

Read more: Nottingham maternity scandal set to be biggest in NHS

Carolyn Jenkinson, deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare at the CQC, said: “When we inspected maternity services at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, we observed a deterioration in the level of care being provided to women, people using the service and their babies.”

She said the leadership team had only recently been restructured while understaffing “meant staff weren’t always able to take their breaks, which affected their wellbeing, morale, and ability to do their job”.

“We also found multiple examples where people’s care had been delayed in maternity triage due to doctors not being available,” she added.

“Some of these delays were very long, for example, six hours, and some resulted in people self-discharging before they had a medical review, which could place them at risk.

“We will continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, to ensure the necessary improvements are made so people and their babies can receive safe and appropriate care.”

The trust said 24 new midwives will join in November, following 25 who joined in January.

Its three sites that provide maternity care were inspected as part of the CQC’s national maternity inspection programme.

St Mary’s Birth Centre’s “safe” rating remained as “good”, but its “well-led” rating was downgraded to “requires improvement”. The overall rating of the site, in Melton Mowbray, remains “good”.

Read more:
Why do maternity scandals keep happening?
Worst NHS maternity scandal explained

Concerns over medicine storage

In its report, the watchdog also raised concerns over risk assessments and medicine storage but said the trust was already working on addressing key risks, including staffing levels, with employees feeling they could approach the trust’s new leadership team to raise concerns.

Julie Hogg, chief nurse at the trust, said in a statement: “We have invested in new equipment and daily safety checking and made rapid improvements to cleanliness and infection prevention practices.

“We are also progressing plans for a new maternity theatre at the Leicester General Hospital, meaning that planned and emergency caesareans will take place in separate areas.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

“While we know there is more to do, we are committed to providing safe, high-quality and compassionate care and are encouraged that the reports highlight our hardworking staff and the actions being taken to ensure a culture of safety and openness.”