James Paget Hospital issued CQC warning over maternity unit

The hospital, which serves the Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and Waveney valley area, has apologised after CQC inspectors found safety failings in its maternity unit

An NHS maternity department has been handed a warning notice by the health regulator because of safety failings.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it was taking the action over the James Paget Hospital in Norfolk to prevent patients coming to harm.

Inspectors found the unit did not have enough staff to care for women and babies and keep them safe.

The hospital, in Gorleston-on-Sea, apologised and said it had made "immediate" improvements.

Inspectors made an announced visit in January and found that the service had deteriorated since the last visit in December 2018.

The maternity department has been deemed "inadequate" in the CQC report, which meant the overall rating for the hospital has now dropped from "good" to "requires improvement".

'Avoidable harm'

Between June and November 2022 there were 30 maternity "red flags" that the inspectors found, of which more than half related to delays or cancellations to time-critical activity.

In once instance, there was a delay in recognising a serious health problem and taking the appropriate action.

The report also highlighted the service did not have enough maternity staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience "to keep women safe from avoidable harm and to provide the right care and treatment".

Staff said they were concerned about inexperienced midwives, lack of the correct skill mix and experience in the team, and junior midwives not receiving the support they needed.

There were also problems with not enough medical staff with nine incidents in 2022 when a lack of consultants had an impact on care.

Other findings included the service falling short on infection control, not always assessing risks to women and acting on them, and problems with record keeping.

James Paget's chief executive Jo Segasby said "immediate" improvements had been made

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC deputy director of operations in the south of England, said: "It's concerning that the quality and safety of maternity care has deteriorated since our last inspection.

"We found that women and people using the services, as well as their babies, were not receiving the safe care they should expect.

"Leaders need to do more to have better management of the service and support staff with good policies and processes to help them keep people safe".

Jo Segasby, chief executive at the hospital, said: "I want to apologise to our patients and communities that the James Paget's maternity services have received this rating.

"Since receiving the warning notice from the CQC in February, we have worked quickly to make the immediate improvements required."

"This includes investing in and recruiting additional medical and midwifery staff to support the care received by those giving birth, and their families, as well as staff to improve effective safety reporting and monitoring arrangements."