Maternity Department at East Surrey Hospital downgraded by Care Quality Commission
The rating at the hospital in Redhill has been dropped from "outstanding" to "requires improvement"
A hospital that's part of the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has had their maternity department downgraded by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection.
The East Surrey Hospital's maternity services are now rated as "requires improvement overall".
A Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust spokesperson said that they'd like to "reassure families" that they are taking immediate action - and that since the inspection they're now ensuring "tougher infection control measures" and "more frequent cleanliness checks"
Inspectors found that the service did not always have had enough staff to care for people and keep them safe and medicines were not always managed well.
They also found that not all infection prevention and control measures were effective or completed appropriately, not all staff received appropriate safeguarding training, and action wasn’t always taken to resolve identified shortfalls from audits with clear timescales for improvement.
The CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare Carolyn Jenkinson said "“When we inspected maternity services at East Surrey Hospital, it was good to see a leadership team in place who had the skills and abilities to run the service. But, not enough had been done to maintain the standard seen at previous inspections.
“We found the leadership team used the systems in place to identify risks. However, any actions to manage or reduce these risks weren’t always monitored closely enough to make sure that improvements were achieved in a timely way.
“Staff used the Modified Early Obstetric Warning Score (MEOWS) which is a system used to detect early signs of deterioration in people. In June not all of the records checked had been completed correctly. This places people at risk of not receiving the care and attention needed for a safe birth.
“Audits by the trust showed that ward environments weren’t always clean. Bed spaces were not always visibly free of dust, dirt, and bodily fluids which was a risk to people’s health. This issue was apparent on the day of inspection.
"We have put in place a robust action plan to tackle the issues raised by the CQC."
“Staff didn’t always complete daily safety checks of specialist equipment. Resuscitaires and emergency trolleys on the unit hadn't been checked every day and so this did not provide assurance that the equipment was safe and ready for use in an emergency, placing babies needing emergency care at risk of harm.
“We have told the leadership team what they must do to ensure improvements are in place at East Surrey Hospital. We will continue monitoring the service to ensure people receive the high-quality care they deserve.”
The ratings for the hospital and trust remain as outstanding overall.
Full response from The Trust
A spokesperson for Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust said:
“Since the inspection we have put in place a robust action plan to tackle the issues raised by the CQC – including ensuring tougher infection control measures, more frequent cleanliness checks, and more thorough daily safety checks of medicines and specialist emergency care equipment.
“Earlier this year we launched a recruitment drive to improve staffing levels and since the inspection 13 new midwives have started in post, with a further five due to start in the coming weeks.
“While we are clear there is more work to do, delivering safe, quality care to our patients is our absolute priority and we would like to reassure families that we are taking immediate action to ensure our patients receive the high-quality care they rightly expect.”