The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated maternity services at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, run by Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, 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 remaining good overall, the ratings for safe and well-led, also remain rated as good. CQC did not look at effective, caring and responsive which still rated as good.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital was not inspected and remains rated as requires improvement overall.
Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said:
“When we visited maternity services at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, we found a leadership team that had the skills and abilities to manage the service well.
“There was a positive culture within the service and staff felt respected, supported and valued. People, their families and staff felt they could raise concerns without fear, and we were pleased to find leaders were visible and approachable, for them to do so.
“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 people received a high standard of care.
“However, we did find some concerns around safety. For example, the service didn’t always have enough maternity staff, and some staff weren’t up to date with their mandatory training which the trust have started to address.
“We will continue to monitor the service, including through future inspections, to make sure that the trust improves the safety of this service.”
Inspectors found the following during this inspection:
- 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 and made sure staff were competent
- Staff worked well together for the benefit of women and people using the service, and understood how to protect people from abuse
- The service controlled infection risk well
- Staff assessed risks to women and people using the service, acted on them and kept good care records
- Safety incidents were managed well and lessons learned from them
- The service engaged well with people and the community to plan and manage services
- Staff were focused on the needs of women and people receiving care.
However:
- The service provided mandatory training in key skills to all staff, but they weren’t all up to date with it
- Despite staffing in excess of the national guidance, staffing levels did not always match the planned numbers putting the safety of women and babies at risk.