Hospital reports maternity progress

The trust has reported improvements in its service, after criticism by the Care Quality Commission

A hospital trust has said it has improved maternity care since a critical Care Quality Commission (CQC) report last summer.

The CQC said "significant" improvements needed to be made at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

It raised concerns about the triage process and management of delays in labour induction.

The University Hospitals of North Midlands has said the triage process had been sped up and that it was continuing to monitor progress on the induction of labour.

The trust said 93% of service users were now seen by a midwife within 15 minutes.

It also said there has been "a steady improvement" in the percentage of people commencing induction of labour in line with guidance on inductions.

A report on the progress was presented to the trust board on Wednesday and board members also heard that the trust expected its maternity department to be fully staffed by the summer, despite a national shortage.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.