The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report following inspections of two maternity services at hospitals run by Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in August.
The inspection was carried out as part of CQC’s national maternity services inspection programme. This 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 locally and nationally.
Following the inspection, the maternity services at both University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital maternity service ratings remained good overall.
At University Hospital Lewisham, the maternity services rating improved from good to outstanding for being well-led, its rating for being safe remains as good.
At Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the maternity services ratings remain as good for being well-led and for being safe.
Effective, caring and responsive were not included in this inspection.
The overall ratings for University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital remains requires improvement. The overall rating for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust also remains requires improvement.
Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC’s deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare, said:
“When we inspected the maternity services at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, we saw a service that provided good care to women, people using the service, and their babies. Leaders had created an open culture where people could raise concerns without fear and be listened to. People told us they were happy with the care and support they had received while using these services.
“Staff worked well together to help everyone using the service. They knew how to keep people safe from harm. Staff kept detailed records of the care they gave and learned from any safety problems that happened.
“Staff told us they felt respected, supported and valued by managers. They were focused on the needs of people receiving care, and we observed them treating people with dignity and respect. The service promoted equality and diversity and provided opportunities for career development.
“We were pleased to recognise the trust's dedication to ensuring equal care for everyone. The leaders and staff are aware that health differences can affect the treatment and care provided, especially those from ethnic minority and less privileged groups.
“We will continue to monitor the trust, including through future inspections, to ensure people and their babies can continue to receive a good standard of care.”
During the inspection of University Hospital Lewisham, inspectors found:
- The service has improved how often they review their equipment for monitoring unborn babies.
- Leaders at every level showed they had the experience and ability to provide top-quality, lasting care.
- There were high levels of staff satisfaction across all equality groups.
- Staff were up to date with the trust mandatory training.
- Leaders encouraged new ideas and participation in research to ensure services improved.
- There was a plan in place to hire more staff to keep people safe.
During the inspection of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, inspectors found:
- The time it takes to look into and respond to complaints has improved since the last inspection.
- Leaders at every level showed they had the experience and ability to provide high-quality, consistent care.
- Staff were up to date with the trust mandatory training, which was an improvement from the last inspection.
- There was a plan in place to recruit more staff to people safe.
However, inspectors also found:
- Records of emergency equipment checks were not always maintained as required.