Stoke Mandeville Hospital ordered to improve maternity services

Stoke Mandeville Hospital's maternity unit was visited by an inspection team in June

Maternity services at a hospital must be improved, a health watchdog has said.

The Stoke Mandeville Hospital department was visited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in June.

It found staff shortages which could lead to unsafe practices, triage service issues and a bereavement suite based in a labour ward.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which manages the hospital, said work was "under way to address the issues".

The CQC team rated the hospital's maternity services as requiring improvement after being sent in as part of a national maternity services inspection programme.

Carolyn Jenkinson, from the CQC, said: "There were high vacancy and sickness rates, and staff told us the low numbers of staff made them feel like aspects of the service could be unsafe.

"Sickness rates were increasing as staff became more stressed.

"However, leaders in the service took action to manage change when risks were identified."

Delays in triaging women were discovered, while the triage area environment made it impossible to maintain confidentiality - concerning when safeguarding issues needed to be discussed, Ms Jenkinson added.

Bereavement suite

The CQC also highlighted the triage telephone service was not always staffed, equipment shortages and medicines being incorrectly managed.

Inspectors also criticised the location of the dedicated baby loss suite, writing in their report: "Bereaved families might have been able to hear babies cry and families celebrating."

Although maternity services were found to need improvement, the volume of incidents was "not excessive" and the department has been rated as good for being well led.

Aspects of the services - including infection control, staff being valued and protecting women from abuse - were singled out for praise.

The overall ratings for Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust both remain as good overall.

Neil Macdonald, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust chief executive, said: "We would like to thank everyone working hard in our maternity service.

"The safety of those using our services is our priority and there are a number of actions required.

"In the short term, work is already under way to address the issues raised including implementing plans to improve maternity triage, to recruit and retain more staff and to maintain supplies of appropriate equipment.

"In the longer term, we will look at how we can address the challenges of improving the maternity environment in our current buildings."