Royal Stoke told to improve maternity services
It follows an inspection in March
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust it must make improvements in maternity services at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, after an inspection in March sees its overall rating move from good to requires improvement.
Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said:
“When we inspected maternity services at Royal Stoke University Hospital, we found leaders had the necessary skills and abilities, however there are areas they need to improve to keep women and people using the service safe.
“We found they didn’t have effective oversight and there were potential risks they hadn’t addressed. There were discrepancies in incident reporting meaning that leaders couldn’t always identify risks and make improvements where needed.
“Inspectors found people were waiting too long to be seen and were asked to wait alone without the support of their loved ones."
They went on to note, however:
“Following the inspection, we raised our concerns with the leadership team and immediate action was taken. For example, improving their triaging process and changing the waiting area for people so staff can see them and provide the care they need in a timely way.
“We’ll continue to monitor the service closely, to check they’ve fixed the issues to ensure that women and people using the service receive the safe care they deserve.”