'Not enough staff to keep women and babies safe' at Rosie maternity hospital in Cambridge, says CQC

Maternity services at one of the country's biggest hospital sites have been told to improve after inspectors found there were not enough staff to care for women and keep them safe.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the maternity services at Addenbrooke's and the Rosie Hospital which is on the same site in Cambridge in May.

Inspectors found that there were not enough staff to care for women and keep them safe.

Some patients also faced longer waiting times during triage and staff didn’t always have up-to-date training on safeguarding, they said.

But they also found staff were honest with people and gave them support when things went wrong and that bosses shared learning after safety incidents.

As a result the CQC rated maternity services at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie Hospitals as "requires improvement". The hospitals remain rated as "good" overall.

Carolyn Jenkinson of the CQC said:  “When we inspected the Rosie Maternity Unit we were concerned to find there weren’t always enough staff to ensure people were cared for safely, despite the hard work of existing staff who were skilled, supportive, and dedicated to continuous improvement. 

“For example, we found understaffing meant women and people using the service sometimes had to wait a long time to be seen by medical staff during triage, which could delay care.

“However, we also saw some examples of great practice, including a strong relationship with the local maternity and neonatal voices partnership."

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) which runs Addenbrookes and the Rosie unit said it was pleased the report did not change the hospital's overall rating.

Lorraine Szeremeta, the chief nurse at CUH, said: “Every member of staff in the Rosie Maternity Unit is dedicated to providing the best possible care for our patients.

"We are pleased that the CQC’s report reflects areas of good practice as well as those areas where we know we need to improve.

"Many of the improvements identified by the CQC are already being addressed through our comprehensive maternity improvement plan, and this work continues to ensure we deliver the high-level of care our patients rightly expect.”

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