Two-thirds of maternity units not safe enough, report finds

Two-thirds of NHS maternity units are deemed ‘not safe enough’, according to records obtained by the BBC.

An analysis from England’s healthcare regulator has shown that maternity units currently have the poorest ratings of any hospital service it inspects.

The records from the Quality Care Commission (CQC) show that two-thirds (67%) of the units are not safe enough, up from 55% last autumn. The analysis also revealed the number of maternity units rated ‘inadequate’ has more than doubled since last year.

According to the CQC, ‘inadequate’ means that the service is performing badly and enforcement action has been taken against the service provider. Meanwhile, when we checked the CQC website, 110 maternity units across the UK have been rated as ‘requiring improvement’ overall.

The CQC, which also inspects core services such as emergency care and critical care, said the situation was “unacceptable” and “disappointing”.

“We’ve seen this deterioration, and action needs to happen now, so that women can have the assurance they need that they’re going to get that high-quality care in any maternity setting across England,” said Kate Terroni, the CQC’s deputy chief executive.

“The regulator has been conducting focused inspections because of concerns about maternity care. These findings are “the poorest they have been” since it started recording the data in this way in 2018, Ms Terroni said.

When we looked at the CQC report for one hospital which was rated as ‘requiring improvement’, the findings stated that “the service did not always control infection risk well or use sufficient control measures to protect women, themselves, and others from infection,’ ‘policies to keep people safe lacked detail and were not clear’ and ‘managers did not always investigate incidents or share lessons learned.”

The Royal College of Midwives suggests staff shortages and lack of funding is making it harder for midwives to deliver better-quality services. It is estimated the NHS is short of 500 midwives.

Injuries to mothers can arise during the pregnancy itself or as a result of childbirth. These injuries can be a natural part of having a baby however, some birth injuries are avoidable and take place during labour or delivery.

Every mother is entitled to a good standard of antenatal care and your midwife, nurse or Doctor should detect any signs which could lead to a birth injury.

Main causes of maternity injuries include:

• Failure to identify the progression of labour
• Mismanagement of maternal conditions such as high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia
• Decisions about the mode and timing of delivery e.g. should a c-section have been brought forward
• Mismanagement of infection e.g. Group B Strep
• Surgical errors
• Retained Placenta, sometimes resulting in infection.

Chantelle Williams, Medical Negligence Paralegal at Oakwood Solicitors said:

“The NHS maternity services seem to be appearing in the news more and more often in recent years, likely as a result of the increasing proportion of maternity units where concerns relating to safety have been raised.

“Clinical negligence claims arising from treatment provided during and after pregnancy are some of the most common. It is disheartening to see as a number of babies and their families suffer as a result of treatment not being of an appropriate standard.

“Measures need to be implemented and a change needs to be made to ensure that patient safety improves and that patients do not suffer as a result of poor treatment.”

Further reading

Child birthing injuries – Oakwood Solicitors

Mother birthing injuries – Oakwood Solicitors

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