The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report on maternity services at Harrogate District Hospital, following an inspection in November.
The inspection at the hospital, which is run by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, was carried out as part of CQC’s national maternity services inspection programme. This will provide an up-to-date view of the quality of hospital maternity care across the country, and a better understanding of what is working well to support learning and improvement.
This is the first time maternity services at Harrogate District Hospital have been rated as a standalone core service. Previously, maternity and gynaecology services were inspected and rated together.
Following this inspection, the overall rating for maternity services has been rated as requires improvement. It has also been rated as requires improvement for being safe. Well-led has been rated as good. Effective, caring and responsive were not looked at during this inspection therefore remain unrated.
The overall rating for Harrogate District Hospital remains rated as good.
Sarah Dronsfield, CQC deputy director of operations in the north, said:
“When we visited maternity services at Harrogate District Hospital, we found staff were focused on the needs of those receiving care, and people could access the service when they needed it, but several improvements were needed across the department.
“On ward areas, inspectors found staff completed and updated risk assessments for women and birthing people and took action to remove or minimise risks. However, there was no clear system in place to identify or prioritise risks to people in the maternity assessment area which could have resulted in them coming to harm. However, following the inspection an action plan has been developed by the trust to show what improvements they plan to make.
“Although staff understood how to protect women and birthing people from abuse, they didn’t always have training on how to recognise and report abuse which could put people at risk of harm and must be addressed.
“The trust leadership team know where improvements are needed and we will continue to monitor the service, including through future inspections, to ensure women and birthing people are receiving the high standard of care they deserve.”
Inspectors found the following:
- Compliance with appropriate safeguarding, life support training and medicines management did not meet targets, however there was a plan in place to improve this. Regular checks on life saving equipment were not always completed
- Medical staffing numbers were not always sufficient, however there were mitigating actions in place
- Information systems were not always appropriate for the service, however, there was a plan in place to improve this
- Governance processes were not always robust and there was limited embedded audit in the service.
However:
- Staff assessed risks to women and birthing people in most areas, acted on them and kept good care records
- Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent for their role
- The service engaged well with women and birthing people and the community to plan and manage services.