Sussex NHS Trust 'improving' maternity services, council hears

Maternity and surgical services were downgraded by health watchdog inspectors in December

"Improvements" have been made to maternity services which had been downgraded, a council has been told.

In December the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust was told by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to "immediately improve" its maternity and surgical services.

Inspectors had raised concerns about staff shortages and skills training.

The chief medical officer at the trust said it was "well on the way" to restoring its previous ratings.

In December, the CQC downgraded services at Worthing Hospital, St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, and Haywards Heath's Princess Royal Hospital to "requires improvement" while those at the Royal Sussex County Hospital were downgraded to "inadequate".

'Work to be done'

During a meeting at West Sussex County Council on Friday Dr Rob Haigh, chief medical officer with the trust, said it was "well on the way" to restoring its previous ratings, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Dr Haigh said: "'Requires improvement' doesn't necessarily imply that services are poor - it identifies areas where further improvements can be made - and of course we should always be striving for the most outstanding care possible."

He said there was "still work to be done".

Among the issues identified by the CQC as requiring improvement across the four maternity units were a shortage of staff and staff not being up-to-date with training in key skills.

A follow-up visit in April was much more positive, the meeting was told.

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC head of hospital inspection, said: "At this inspection we saw a number of improvements at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust's maternity department, which showed they have met their requirements in the warning notice.

"The trust still have work to do, but it is positive that so much progress has been made, and we'll continue to monitor them to make sure these are embedded and built upon."

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