Hospital trust ordered to improve maternity care

Maternity services at City Hospital, Birmingham, were downgraded from "good" to "requires improvement" by inspectors

Inspectors have ruled maternity care must "rapidly improve" following a probe of services at a Birmingham hospital where training has been compromised in a bid to cover staff shortages, and equipment checks have been found wanting.

Maternity care at City Hospital, part of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, has been downgraded overall from "good" to "requires improvement", with the rating for safety dropping from "good" to "inadequate".

The hospital's maternity department has since moved to the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Smethwick under a planned reorganisation of how hospital care is delivered in the area, which has included the closure of City. But The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has nevertheless issued the trust with a warning to ensure "significant" strides in standards are made.

The trust said it had completed all the actions put to them by the CQC and was confident it provided a "safe and holistic service".

The maternity department at City Hospital has since moved to the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital

The inspection at City Hospital, which closed earlier this month, took place in June.

The CQC said the inspection was carried out partly due to concerns from whistle-blowers about poor culture, staff shortages and investigations into serious incidents.

Inspectors found women, babies and service-users "did not always receive care in line with national guidance".

Charlotte Rudge, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said staffing was a "significant problem" within the service, with many having to cancel their training to cover staff shortages, which could put people at risk.

Inspectors also had concerns around both the environment and equipment at the department, with daily checks of life-saving equipment not "effectively carried out".

“We issued the trust with a warning notice to focus their attention on making improvements to maternity services," Ms Rudge said.

"Since the inspection they’ve produced an action plan to address our concerns, and have completed all actions."

The inspection found staff were not always "appropriately trained", and some policies at the trust were out of date.

However, feedback had been used to try to improve standards, with staff aware of escalation pathways and "consistently" recording risk factors in people's records.

Ms Rudge added staff had been "working hard" to put systems in place to ensure better care and to support equality, diversity and inclusion.

“We’ll be monitoring this service closely, including through further inspections, to make sure people receive safe care while these improvements are implemented," she said.

'Service unrecognisable'

Mel Roberts, chief nursing officer at the hospital, said they accepted their maternity service "was not where we wanted it to be" and carried out an external review as well undergoing the scrutiny of the CQC.

“All actions in that plan have now been completed and environmental complaints have been addressed following our whole service move to a brand new home in the new Midland Met University Hospital," she added.

"Our service is unrecognisable from that described in the report.

“Whilst there is always more to do, we are confident that we provide a safe and holistic service, putting the needs of our families first and engaging our workforce to be proud in the service they deliver."