Some 'outstanding maternity care' at RUH Bath NHS Foundation Trust

Maternity services at Bath's Royal United Hospital have retained their 'outstanding' rating from the Care Quality Commission.

Back in November, the CQC visited the services at three hospitals ran by the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust - those being at the RUH, Chippenham Birth Centre (Chippenham Community Hospital), and Frome Birth Centre (Frome Community Hospital) - as part of their national inspection programme.

At the RUH, bosses maintained their outstanding rating overall - with the 'well-led' remaining outstanding; whilst it's been re-rated as good for being safe, whilst results from a previous inspection effective remains rated as good, caring and responsive remain rated as outstanding.

Chippenham's Birth Centre has been rated as good overall, and for being safe and well-led.

Frome Birth Centre has been rated as good overall, and for being safe and well-led.

For both of these, it's the first time they have been reviewed by the CQC.

The maternity services ratings did not change the overall ratings for the hospitals, as Royal United Hospital remains rated as requires improvement overall, but the Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust remains rated as good overall.

'Leaders should be incredibly proud'

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist care said: “When we inspected maternity services run by Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust we found good leadership and staff who were passionate about providing high quality care for women, people using the service, and their babies.

“We found leaders were running the services well across the three hospitals. They monitored the performance, identified risks and understood the issues the services were facing. Staff told us leaders were approachable and they felt respected, valued and supported to develop their skills.

“At Royal United Hospital Bath in particular, leaders should be incredibly proud to have developed a culture where staff can thrive and are empowered to provide the best possible care to women, people using the service and their babies. Its outstanding rating is a testament to the continued hard work and dedication of the entire team.

“We were also pleased to see the trust was committed to making improvements and had several improvement projects in place and made changes following feedback from staff and people using the service. For example, the trust had launched an infant feeding support project to identify areas of deprivation and provide extra support to those who needed it as well as a translation app, which had received positive feedback from users.

“The trust should look to learn how they can extend the excellent practice we found in maternity to their other services.”

'Absolutely delighted'

Zita Martinez, Director of Midwifery at the RUH, said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the outcome of the CQC inspection, it is a true credit to the hard work and commitment of our staff based at the RUH and those in our community birth centres, who go that extra mile every day.

“I was extremely proud to hear the inspection team’s reflection of the positive culture they observed during the visit and how our staff work within and promote a culture of dignity and respect for the people we care for.

“We are already developing action plans that focus on those areas where inspectors felt improvement is needed to ensure we continue to provide women and birthing people with the very best care at all times. This includes further training in adult basic life support and supporting an increased compliance with infection control measures.

“A major refurbishment of our maternity facilities at the RUH site is currently underway, to further improve our families’ experience. This includes the relocation of our Day Assessment Unit alongside the creation of a new fully equipped day room for our families to prepare food and relax away from the bedside.”

RUH Chief Executive Cara Charles-Barks said: “This is a truly fantastic achievement that recognises the commitment and dedication of our Maternity team to providing an outstanding service to the people we care for.

“This accomplishment reflects what’s at the heart of our You Matter Strategy; a commitment to shared values and continuous improvement which provide a positive experience for the people we care for the people we work with and the people in our community."

On average, approximately 4,500 babies are born each year at the RUH and at home or in their community birth centres.

You can find the full report for all three services on the CQC website.

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