The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has downgraded the rating of maternity services at Royal Bolton Hospital, from good to requires improvement overall following an inspection in November.
The inspection at the trust, which is run by Bolton 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.
As well as the service’s overall rating declining, the service has also dropped from good to requires improvement for being safe and well-led. CQC didn’t inspect how effective, caring and responsive the service was at this inspection, so these all remain rated as good from the previous inspection.
The overall rating for Royal Bolton Hospital remains rated as good.
Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said:
“When we visited maternity services at Royal Bolton Hospital, we found a deterioration in the standard of care being provided across the areas we looked at. However, there had been recent changes in the leadership team who had started to make some improvements.
“There were issues around staffing levels which led to frequent closures of the birthing centre and midwifery led hospital unit. This reduced the birthing options available to women and birthing people.
“Additionally, during the inspection one of the postnatal wards was closed due to staffing issues, which caused delays transferring people from the labour ward. This situation was regularly assessed by leaders who moved staff around to ensure women and birthing people received appropriate care.
“However, inspectors found staff supported and involved women and birthing people, families and carers to understand and make decisions about their care and treatment.
“We have informed the trust’s leadership team where improvements are required and we will continue to monitor the service closely, including through future inspections, to determine whether the issues we identified are addressed.”
Inspectors found:
- The service provided mandatory training in key skills, however, did not always ensure everyone had completed it. Staff appraisal compliance rates were below the trust’s overall target
- The service did not always manage safety incidents well as there was a backlog of incidents awaiting review
- Staff did not consistently complete checks of specialist equipment.
However:
- Staff assessed risks to women and birthing people, acted on them and kept good care records
- Leaders and staff actively and openly engaged with women and birthing people, staff, equality groups, the public and local organisations to help plan and manage the services the trust were providing.