The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has rated maternity services at Princess Anne Hospital, run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, as good following an inspection in May.
This inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s national maternity services inspection programme. The programme aims to 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 at a local and national level.
As well as maternity services being rated good overall, how well-led the service is, has also been rated as good. The rating for safe remained as requires improvement. CQC did not look at effective, caring and responsive which are still rated as good from the previous inspection.
CQC did not review the rating of Princess Anne Hospital, so it remains rated as good overall.
Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said:
“When we visited maternity services at Princess Anne Hospital, we found a leadership team that had the skills and abilities to manage the service well.
“It was encouraging to see that people could access the service when they needed it and didn’t have to wait too long for treatment, with all staff committed to improving services to ensure women, people using the service and their babies received a high standard of care.
“We saw a positive, open culture within the service and staff told us they felt respected, valued and supported by leadership to develop in their roles. It was great that people also had access 24 hours a day to a midwife via the service’s triage phone line.
“People, families and staff also told us they felt able to raise concerns without fear, and leaders were visible and approachable for them to do so.
"However, we did find some concerns around safety. For example, ward security wasn’t always effective putting people and babies at risk, although the trust had made immediate improvements at this inspection including reducing the risk of tailgating at doorways and admitting people to maternity areas in a more controlled way. We also saw staff didn’t always carry out daily safety checks of specialist equipment.
“We’ll continue to monitor the service, including through future inspections, to make sure that the trust improves the safety of this service.”
Inspectors also found:
- The triage telephone line meant that women had access to a midwife 24 hours a day
- Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills
- Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work
- Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service, including learning lessons from safety incidents
- Most midwifery staff had training in key skills and worked well together for the benefit of people
- Medicines were managed well
- Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and focused on the needs of women and people receiving care.
However,
- Medical staff hadn’t completed all mandatory training
- Some infection control improvements were still needed.