Maternity services ‘getting worse’, hospitals regulator warns
The health service is gridlocked and a new report warns something has to be done - Amy Lewis reports
Maternity services in England have deteriorated to their lowest level, the hospitals regulator has said, as it expressed “deep concerns” about the quality of care given to mothers and babies.
In a worrying report, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it was seeing worsening services and, “time and again” saw issues with the leadership and culture within maternity units.
Ian Trenholm, the CQC’s chief executive, said the failings were “systemic” in the NHS, with two in five maternity services now ranked as requiring improvement or inadequate.
He said: “I don’t think any of us could think that’s an acceptable number”, adding that the regulator was of the view that the issues in maternity were a “national challenge”.
It comes just two days after a damning inquiry found up to 45 babies could have lived if they had been given better care by East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.
Some mothers died or were left injured, while other babies were left brain damaged, by a trust that shelved inspector reports and ignored criticism of its services.
East Kent is the latest in a long line of maternity scandals, including at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Morecambe Bay and the upcoming review of services in Nottingham, which is expected to be highly critical.
The new CQC state of care report shows there has been a deterioration in maternity services overall and also in relation to their safety, describing progress on improving services as “slow”.
The proportion of maternity services ranked inadequate (6%) or requires improvement (47%) for safety is the worst it has been since maternity specific ratings were introduced in 2018.
Similarly, the proportion of maternity services rated inadequate (6%) or requires improvement (32%) overall are at their worst levels.
The report said “we have deep concerns” about care, adding that the “quality of maternity care is not good enough”.
On the wider NHS, the CQC said health leaders now believe that the risk of patients coming to harm is the “new status quo”.
Furthermore, the “inability” of patients to access GP services is “exacerbating the high pressure on urgent and emergency care services.”
The report described emergency departments as “packed” out, while NHS hospitals told the regulator that people are presenting more acutely unwell and are therefore more likely to be admitted.
The CQC said that, overall, public satisfaction with the NHS and social care in 2021/22 has “plummeted”, describing the entire health and care system as “gridlocked” and “unable to operate effectively”.
There are around 132,000 vacancies in the NHS and 165,000 across social care – which the CQC said is roughly equivalent to the entire population of the city of Newcastle.
The staffing crisis facing social care in England has hit a new, alarming, low, as Emily Morgan reports
Louise Ansari, national director at Healthwatch England, said: “The report echoes many of the issues people have raised with us, such as difficulties getting through to their GP team or getting the care they need in a timely way.”
“In the wake of the Ockenden review and this week’s report on East Kent Hospitals Trust, it is deeply troubling that CQC’s findings suggest the troubles in maternity care could be much wider spread.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The Care Quality Commission’s report identifies the same priorities for improvement set out by the Health and Social Care Secretary in Our Plan for Patients.
“The plan – ABCD – is designed to address ambulance pressures, bust the backlog, support care and discharge from hospital and improve access to doctors and dentists.”
On maternity, he added: “It is vital NHS trusts focus on safe, personalised care across maternity services. We want NHS staff of all professions and disciplines to work together with women and families to deliver co-produced personalised and safe care.
“The NHS is investing £127 million in maternity services in the next year to help increase the maternity NHS workforce and improve neonatal care. This is on top of £95 million invested into the establishment of 1,200 midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians.
“The Care Quality Commission has begun a new maternity inspection programme to help services improve, both at a local and national level.”
An NHS spokesman said: “Despite improvements to maternity services over the last decade – with significantly fewer still births and neonatal deaths – we know that further action is needed to ensure safe care for all women, babies and their families.”
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