Maternity Services Rated Inadequate At Two Hospitals

Maternity services astatine a spot person again been rated inadequate pursuing unannounced inspections by nan Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The wellness watchdog carried retired inspections successful June and July past twelvemonth astatine Bedford Hospital and Luton and Dunstable Hospital (L&D).

It recovered that only minimal improvements had been made, pinch nan services remaining successful breach of regulations astir staffing and safe attraction and treatment.

In a statement, Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs some hospitals, said it was sorry wherever "our work has fallen short" and it was now delivering improvements.

The inspections were carried retired past summertime by nan CQC pursuing improvements it had told them to make.

In September past twelvemonth much follow-up inspections were carried out, but maternity services astatine some hospitals were again rated inadequate overall.

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC lawman head of hospitals successful nan East of England, said: "We were profoundly concerned that improvements successful maternity services were happening excessively slowly, pinch small alteration since our erstwhile inspection."

She said nan "triage work was often understaffed" and astatine Bedford astir a 4th of calls went unanswered aliases abandoned by nan caller owed to hold times.

At Luton and Dunstable Hospital, women knowledgeable delays to elective caesarean sections, arsenic good arsenic induction of labour.

Jenkinson added: "We besides saw predominant diversions to different hospitals owed to staffing shortages, which whitethorn lead to distress for women who had made circumstantial plans astatine their chosen hospital."

Inspectors recovered that astatine some hospitals nan work had galore out-of-date policies and objective guidelines, including those covering babe abduction and sepsis management.

Carter said that, since nan inspection past summer, nan spot had "opened authorities of nan creation maternity accommodation successful our caller Acute Services Block astatine nan L&D".

At Bedford, he said: "We've introduced a dedicated telephone triage midwife, caller 'mini switchboard' telephone triage work and a backstage triage area to amended access, privateness and dignity."