Airedale Hospital's maternity services told to improve by CQC

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited the hospital in December as part of its national inspection programme for maternity care.

Inspectors found staffing shortages had impacted teams’ morale while improvements were needed around safety.

The report said Airedale’s maternity assessment centre had no clear system to prioritise and risk assess patients. 

Hospital chiefs said they were disappointed by the outcome, but said Airedale NHS Foundation Trust was “already making changes” at the time of the inspection. 

Airedale Hospital’s rating for overall maternity services has dropped from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’.

Meanwhile the department’s safety and leadership ratings have also declined to ‘requires improvement’.

Inspection questions on the service’s effectiveness, responsiveness, and care were not looked at during this inspection and remain as ‘good’.

• Read more: Bradford hospital trust handed new rating after maternity inspection

Carolyn Jenkinson, the CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said: “When we visited maternity services at Airedale General Hospital, we found staff were focused on the needs of people in their care, however staffing shortages had impacted on their morale as they felt they couldn’t always give women and people using the service the standard of care they needed.

“We found improvements were needed around safety. For example, the maternity assessment centre had no clear system in place to prioritise and risk assess people to ensure they were treated in a timely way.

“The trust leadership team know where improvements are needed and we will continue to monitor the service, including through future inspections, to ensure people are receiving the high standard of care they deserve.”

The CQC's key findings

Inspectors found the following:

• The service was unable to evidence some mandatory training figures, including levels of appropriate safeguarding adults training or competency checks in medicines management.
• There were gaps in sharing safeguarding information during handovers.
• Policies and documentation were not always kept up to date, and audits were not always completed in line with trust targets. Action plans were not always completed or updated in a timely way.
• Staff worked well together for the benefit of women and people using the service and understood how to protect them from abuse.
• The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Staff felt respected, supported, and valued and were focused on the needs of people using the service.

Sarah Simpson, director of midwifery said: “Although the rating is disappointing, we know our maternity service has a strong background in listening and learning, and most importantly in putting women and their families at the heart of the decisions we make about their care. 

“We acknowledge and accept the recommendations; however it’s important to understand we were already making these changes, and the Care Quality Commission praised us for our commitment to continuous learning and making improvements to our service. 

“This report, along with the feedback we receive from women in our care, the maternity survey and the local Maternity Voices Partnership, builds on that work. 

“Having a baby is a special time and we are always looking for ideas to improve, to make this experience as positive as possible.”

Read more: Government funding is approved for new Airedale Hospital

The hospital has since introduced a new Birth Choices midwife, who will help women make individual birth choices. 

It is also set to host a number of events to shape the future of Airedale’s care in the coming months.

Amanda Stanford, chief nurse and executive director for midwifery and allied health professionals, said: “We know we have work to do, particularly around our governance and processes, but I would like to assure families that our maternity services are safe, and well-run, and the CQC highlighted many examples of good practice.

“While we understand that this report may raise questions for some families, I would encourage them to please contact myself or our Director of Midwifery Sarah Simpson or their midwife so that we can alleviate any concerns they may have.

“It’s important to note that the report also describes staff that feel respected, supported, and valued and that are focused on the needs of women receiving care.  I am proud of our exceptionally hard-working teams who deliver excellent care at a very important time in a family’s life. I know that they put women and families at the centre of everything they do.”