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Posted on 30th September 2022
The CQC has told Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s maternity services that they must make urgent changes after it was downgraded to ‘requires improvement.’
CQC Findings
The report by the Care Quality Commission followed an unannounced inspection in June after concerns had been raised about the maternity services within Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The trust’s maternity services had previously been rated as ‘good,’ however, following the inspection, the CQC had ‘serious’ concerns regarding the treatment and monitoring of patients on the maternity ward.
Ann Ford, CQC, director of CQC’s North Network, said:
“We inspected the maternity services at Blackpool Victoria Hospital as we had concerns about the quality of services being provided. We weren’t assured that women and babies were receiving safe care and treatment.”
“During our inspection, we found that leaders weren’t always visible and approachable for patients and staff. There was also a clear disconnect between the senior leaders and staff on the wards which was having an impact on people’s care.”
Report Summary
The report identified the following areas as the reason for the downgrade
- Staff did not always provide effective care and treatment. Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service but did not always make sure staff were competent
- Staff did not adequately support women to breastfeed
- The service did not always have the facilities to respect women’s privacy and dignity
- Staff did not always help women understand their conditions or take account of their individual needs. People could not always access the service when they needed it and did have to wait too long for treatment
- Leaders had the systems for effective governance processes but not all risks were reported
- There were insufficient processes in place to assess the risk of and prevent and control the spread of infections
- The service did not always manage safety incidents well and lessons learned were not always shared.
Positive Feedback
The CQC report also highlights areas where the standard of care was outstanding.
For example, the deputy head of midwifery and maternity matron holds hour-long Facebook Live events where women and their families can ask questions and any worries can be addressed. This was implemented during lockdown periods when face-to-face appointments were limited.
Have you been affected by poor care from Blackpool maternity services?
If you or a loved one has suffered a result of poor care administered by the Trust, 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.
