City hospital's maternity service gets new centre

The trust hopes the changes will improve it CQC rating

A refurbished and expanded maternity assessment centre at Bradford Royal Infirmary has opened.

The hospital's maternity services were given a 'requires improvement' rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2023.

The centre is a triage service, maternity's equivalent of an emergency department, for anyone who is 16 weeks pregnant onwards.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the body that runs the hospital, said it hoped the facility would help maternity services achieve an 'outstanding' rating at its next inspection.

The hospital's maternity services required improvement when inspected in May 2023

Midwife Nicole Wood said the maternity assessment centre (MAC) would better serve women and babies from across the district.

"It is miles ahead of our last unit because it is so bright, airy and woman-centred.

"The waiting room is large, and we don’t have to share it with other maternity clinics – basically the new MAC is everything that we wanted and more.

"It also feels much calmer for our patients," she said.

The facility includes a four-bedded bay, two single-bed bays, a triage side room and a side room with en-suite facilities.

Two further single-bed bays are planned for 2025.

'Requires improvement'

In May 2023, the CQC found that "staff did not always manage risks to women, birthing people and babies well".

Its report added: "There were not always enough staff to meet the needs of women, birthing people, and babies.

"They did not always manage medicines well."

In July 2024, Naz Shah MP for Bradford West said there were "clear failures of leadership" at the hospital following the deaths of two babies during a preventable bacterial infection outbreak.

She said she did not have confidence in the hospital's leadership.

Responding to the CQC's findings in May last year, the trust's Karen Dawber said: "We are delighted the CQC has found improvements in our maternity services and the care we provide to women and their babies.

"Even though our overall rating for maternity services remains the same, as not all standards were looked at by the CQC on this visit, it has recognised all of the positive improvements we have made."

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