'Unsafe staffing levels' found in East Kent Hospitals maternity inspection
Video report by ITV Meridian reporter Kit Bradshaw
"Unsafe staffing levels," with some midwives working 20 hour shifts, have been found at maternity services run by East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the trust as "requires improvement" following an unannounced inspection in July.
The hospital trust was previously taken to court by the CQC over the death of baby Harry Richford in 2017.
The trust says it is investing £1.6 million in improving staffing levels across its sites , which it says will fund an extra 38 midwives.
Inspectors visited visited the maternity unit at William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, and the Trust's community midwifery teams in Canterbury and Dover in July
In the report, inspectors found "there were not enough midwifery and maternity support workers to keep women and babies safe."
Sarah Hubbard, mother
Staff were offered "financial incentives to work above their contractual hours", meaning some were "working 20-hour days, with very little time for a break."
It found that mothers were sometimes transferred between hospitals during labour, because of staffing shortages.
The CQC also found that community teams had stopped visiting every mother and baby at home in favour of telephone appointments, which inspectors said could cause "delays in identifying mothers and babies who needed to be protected from abuse, or whose condition deteriorated during the post-natal period."
The report said that the trust had responded "swiftly" to the issues highlighted, implementing a new action plan including more funding for new staff, reopening a midwife-led unit and redeploying home birth staff to help in the hospitals.
Inspectors all praised the trust for improvements to services for Children and Young People, which had an "open culture" for patients, parents and staff.
Sarah Shingler, Chief Nursing Officer at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trustsaid she "pleased" that "the significant improvements that they have made for children, young people and their families" have been recognised."
“We continue to work hard to support our midwives’ well-being and help them provide a safe, high-quality service for women and babies
"This includes a £1.6m investment to fund an additional 38 additional midwives with 26 already in post.”