Derriford Hospital's maternity service 'requires improvement', CQC report finds

Inspectors found staff did not always assess risks to women when they were admitted to the service

Derriford Hospital's maternity service has been rated as requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC found there were not enough staff to care for women and keep them safe at the Plymouth hospital.

The service, run by University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, was previously rated as good in 2019.

Sue Wilkins, the trust's director of maternity services, said it was addressing the main problems, including staff shortages.

The CQC inspected the service in September as part of a national programme to assess the quality of hospital maternity care.

The inspection found:

• There were not enough staff to care for women and keep them safe

• Staff did not always assess risks to women when they were admitted to the service or attended maternity triage

• Staff did not always receive adequate training in key skills, including for emergency evacuation of the birth pool and safeguarding

• There were risks of documentation being incomplete before the implementation of a new IT system

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said staff were doing their best to provide good care and keep people safe

However, Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, praised the staff for being caring and compassionate.

She said the trust had a clear vision and strategy for the service.

"Staff were doing their best to provide good care and keep people safe and women could access the service when they needed it," she said.

"We found good collaboration between staff for the benefit of women and babies.

"They managed infection risk well and were committed to driving improvement."

The CQC said it would continue to monitor the service and work with the trust to ensure improvements were made.

Ms Wilkins said the trust was addressing the main problems, staff shortages and risk assessments.

She said 14 more midwives had joined since the inspection and 16 more were expected soon.

A new risk assessment system and IT system would be implemented in the next few weeks and months, she added.

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