North Tees and Hartlepool hospitals' maternity services must improve

The inspectors found that managers at the trust did not always have the ability or skills to lead well

Maternity services at two hospitals require improvement, a watchdog has found.

A review of North Tees and Hartlepool hospitals found that maternity services did not have effective leaders or enough medical or midwifery staff.

The last Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust carried out in 2018, rated it as good.

The trust said it was disappointed with the rating and was making changes.

The trust provides acute and community health services to more than 400,000 people in Hartlepool, Stockton and parts of County Durham.

The inspectors found that: "Leaders did not always have the skills and abilities to run the service.

"They understood the priorities and issues the trust faced, however there were a number of interim appointments and vacancies impacting on the stability of the board and making maintaining operational oversight a challenge.

"Staff reported they were not always visible and approachable in the service for patients and staff."

The CQC said the inspection was prompted by concerns over the "quality and safety" of services.

The inspectors found that staff completed risk assessments for each woman on admission and "actioned specific risk".

They also said that the workers they spoke to believed medical staff were "generally responsive" when called and consultants were available during difficult births.

However, they found there could be delays in medical staff reviews for patients in antenatal day units.

Inspectors found that the maternity units did not have enough medical staff and midwives

Between May this year and 2021, maternity services trust-wide received 34 complaints regarding lack of communication and delays to treatment.

However, inspectors did find that during the same period, the service received 68 compliments about the care received.

In a statement the trust said: "While we are saddened by the report, we accept its conclusions in the context of our post-Covid recovery and our continued collaborative efforts, and will use it as a tool to drive real change and improvement for our population.

"After the most challenging time for the NHS in our history, our recovery work as an organisation post-pandemic continues at pace.

"Investment and innovation in our services remains our priority."

The CQC also carried out an inspection of children and young people's services at the University Hospital of North Tees and rated these as good.

Inspectors concluded: "Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity, took account of their individual needs and helped them understand their conditions.

"Staff understood how to protect patients from abuse, and generally controlled infection risk well."