George Eliot maternity unit praised by inspectors

George Eliot Hospital's maternity unit retains its "good" rating from the CQC

A hospital's maternity unit has been praised by inspectors and retained its "good" rating.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the service at the George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton as part of a national inspection programme.

It has now produced a report which said it provided "good care to women, people using the service, and their babies".

The hospital trust as a whole was not inspected and is still rated as "requires improvement" by the CQC.

The CQC said the inspection was carried out because it was attempting to get "an up to date view of the quality of hospital maternity care across the country".

In the new inspection report, published on Wednesday, the CQC said the maternity staff had training in key skills, worked well together and managed safety well.

It also said the unit controlled infection risk, kept good records, managed safety incidents well and worked to reduce health inequalities.

The deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare for the CQC, Carolyn Jenkinson, praised the way the unit was led and added: "It was lovely to hear staff were proud to work for the trust and felt valued and respected by managers."

There were a few criticisms made by the report, which said staffing was not always at safe levels and that the hospital could not always demonstrate it was following best practice on consent for caesarean sections.

The hospital's chief executive, Glen Burley, said the maternity department had been "busier than ever" and the team should be "very proud of this result".