Blackwater Law successfully represented the family of baby Blake in making a midwife negligence claim after the community midwife failed to notice a severe medical abnormality.
Posted on 13th March 2023
Following an inspection in September 2022, Derriford Hospital’s maternity services have been downgraded.
CQC Findings
Following the inspections, carried out as part of the CQC’s national maternity services programme, the maternity services at Derriford Hospital have been downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement.’
The inspections at the hospital, which University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust runs, found issues with the standard of care received by women and babies at the hospital.
The inspectors found:
- Issues with the number of staff and found there were not enough to keep women safe.
- It was found that staff had not always received adequate training for some key skills.
- Risk assessments were not always carried out by staff when women were admitted or attending maternity triage
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Carolyn Jenkins, CQC deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare commented:
“At times, the quality and safety of maternity care at Derriford Hospital fell short of standards women and babies have a right to expect.
“Like many other services across the NHS and wider care sector, the service lacked enough staff to meet the needs of people using it – although University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust was recruiting to reduce these vacancies.
“We also found training targets weren’t being met, and the trust must address this to ensure people’s safety.
Positive Feedback
As part of the report, the CQC did identify positive practices at the hospital.
- Staff were set to work well together
- The relationships within teams were good
- Infection risk was managed well.
Have you been affected by poor maternity care at Derriford Hospital
If you or a loved one has suffered a result of poor care administered by Derriford Hospital, you should speak to a birth injury solicitor about your options for possible recourse.
You may be entitled to make a no-win, no-fee birth injury or medical negligence compensation claim to help you secure the funding, or the treatments required to put things right.
