Rosie Hospital worker says women were 'not always' aware of choice

The Rosie is part of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge

A nursing assistant who worked at an under-pressure maternity hospital said pregnant mums were "not always" aware they had choice when giving birth.

Inspectors had previously said there were not always enough staff at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge to "ensure people were cared for safely".

The woman told the BBC she cried each time she was on duty due to stress.

The hospital said patients were "central" to its care and it was "committed" to supporting staff.

"Things should always be framed as a choice," said the former maternity support worker.

"In the hospital things are often framed as a demand, 'you need to do this, we need to do that, you have to get up on the table', or even if it is framed as a question, [the parents] were not really given the opportunity to have a discussion around it."

Maternity services at the hospital were rated as "requires improvement"

Maternity services at The Rosie, part of Addenbrooke's Hospital, were rated as "requires improvement" in a report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) earlier this month.

CQC deputy director Carolyn Jenkinson said understaffing meant people using the service sometimes had to wait a "long time to be seen by medical staff during triage".

The former nursing assistant, who spoke to the BBC anonymously, added: "I think I cried almost every shift that I had, not because I was necessarily always seeing terrible things happening to people, although that was part of it - I kind of expected there would be hard things.

"What was difficult was the lack of compassion shown by the people I was working with.

"It seemed like everyone was too burnt out to care sometimes, which was really, really hard, and I felt like I was taking on a lot of emotional responsibility for people in the unit."

A woman who gave birth to her son at the hospital during a bank holiday weekend in May also spoke to the BBC.

Millie was in a bed expecting an elective caesarean section imminently because of health concerns over the baby, but it took place more than 24 hours later than planned, most of which she spent nil by mouth.

"It feels like they didn't necessarily have the staffing levels required to deal with the amount of people they had," said her partner, Hugo.

'Open culture'

A spokesperson for the Rosie Hospital said: "Our patients are central to the care we give in our hospitals, and we are committed to providing our staff with the support they need to deliver the very best care.

"We welcome feedback of any kind from everyone who uses our service, and are always happy to meet with families to discuss any concerns.

"Whilst there have been staff shortages in the past at The Rosie, these are being addressed with midwife vacancies now at less than 2%, and progress being made to recruit into other medical staff vacancies.

"We have a robust whistleblowing policy, and an open culture where staff are actively encouraged to raise any concerns."