The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has rated maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as good, following an inspection in May and June.
The inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s national maternity 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.
Inspectors looked at the areas of safe and well-led in maternity services at St James’s University Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary. Following the inspection maternity services at both hospitals have been rated as good overall, and for being safe and well-led.
This is the first time maternity services at both hospitals have been rated as a standalone core service. Previously, maternity and gynaecology services were inspected and rated together.
The overall rating for Leeds General Infirmary remains rated as good and St James’s University Hospital remains rated as requires improvement. The rating for the trust remains rated as good.
Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said:
“When we inspected maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we found a culture where leaders had the skills and abilities to run maternity services well, and staff were focused on the needs of women and people receiving care.
“It was reassuring to find both services had enough maternity staff with the right skills, training and experience to keep women and people using the service safe, provide the right care and treatment and protect them from abuse.
“We also found some outstanding practice. The service worked well with diverse communities to find out perceptions of maternity care in order to provide advice which was accessible and inclusive to people. Staff should be proud of this work as it helps to reduce health inequalities and ensures people have all the information they need to enable them to have a better birthing experience.
“However, there was a lack of oversight regarding how long women and people using the service were waiting for their phone calls to be answered when contacting the department. This meant leaders didn’t know how long people were waiting or how many had ended their call which could put them and their babies at risk, if they didn’t get the help and support they needed. During the inspection, the trust informed us this was being improved to keep people safe.
“We will continue to monitor the service, including through future inspections, to ensure this good work remains embedded and women and people using the service, as well as their babies continue to receive a high standard of care.”
Inspectors found the following during this inspection:
At St James’s University Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary:
- The service had enough staff to care for people and keep them safe
- Staff had training in key skills and worked well together for the benefit of people using the service
- The service controlled infection risk well
- Staff assessed risks to people, acted on them and kept good care records.
- Medicines were managed well
- The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them
- 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
- Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of people receiving care
- Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities
- The service engaged well with people and the community to plan and manage services
- All staff were committed to improving services continually.
However:
- There was a lack of oversight regarding telephone calls to the triage number.