Maternity service must improve, inspectors say

There were frequent staff shortages at Friarage Hospital's maternity service, inspectors found

Inspectors have told a North Yorkshire hospital to improve its maternity care.

The maternity centre at Northallerton's Friarage Hospital regularly had to close due to staff shortages and leaders did not always manage risk well, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

It gave the service a rating of "requires improvement".

The South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the site, said it was already addressing the concerns through a comprehensive action plan.

The CQC report follows inspections carried out in August last year.

Inspectors found the midwife-led Friarage Maternity Centre (FMC) had "issues with recruitment and retention and sickness of staff".

The unit regularly had to close for births, usually because staff were redeployed to the trust's James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) in Middlesbrough, the report said.

It said: "Staff also told us they had frank conversations with women and birthing people and advised them they could not guarantee a member of the team would be available to look after them in labour."

The maternity service was given an overall rating of "requires improvement", as was its leadership, although safety was rated as "good".

Inspectors also rated the maternity service at JCUH as requiring improvement, in a report issued at the same time.

It is the first time maternity services at both hospitals have been rated as a standalone service.

'Difficult to plan a birth'

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC's deputy director of secondary and specialist care, said leaders of maternity services at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust "didn’t always understand and manage the priorities both maternity services faced in a timely way".

She said: "At the Friarage Hospital, the maternity unit was sometimes closed for births as staff were required to work at the James Cook University Hospital instead, due to low staffing levels.

"This made it difficult for people to plan a birth there."

Dr Deepika Meneni, clinical director for the trust’s maternity services, said the "safety of those in our care is always our top priority and every member of our maternity team is dedicated to providing the best possible care".

She said: "All of the areas identified by the CQC for improvement are being addressed through a comprehensive action plan and many of these have already been completed.

"This includes successfully recruiting midwives to all our vacancies."

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