Maternity unit rating upgraded but 'concerns' remain

A Sussex hospital's maternity department has been upgraded from requires improvement to good.

The Care Quality Commisson (CQC) said it had visited Worthing Hospital in response to ongoing concerns about the service and to follow up on improvements it had previously requested.

While the watchdog found improvements, some breaches of regulations were also identified relating to safe care and treatment and the effectiveness of departmental management.

Dr Tim Taylor, chief of service for the Women and Children's division at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The work to improve is never over, we must keep trying to be better."

Amanda Williams, CQC deputy director of hospitals, secondary and specialist care in Sussex, said her team had seen staff working hard to support women throughout their pregnancy journey.

"The service offered specialist midwives for mental health, bereavement and safeguarding, and provided 24/7 access to emergency mental health support," she said.

Highlighting areas where improvements were needed, she said there was only one dedicated obstetric theatre for planned and emergency caesarean sections, where national guidance requires two.

"This meant if two women needed an emergency caesarean at the same time, one of them would have to be transferred elsewhere and their emergency treatment could be delayed," Williams said.

"We have asked the trust for an action plan to address some of the concerns we found during our inspection and we'll continue to monitor the service to ensure ongoing improvements continue and women are safe while this happens."

Following the latest inspection, the CQC upgraded how well-led the service is from requires improvement to good.

Safe is re-rated as requires improvement. Caring is re-rated as good. Responsive and effective were not rated at the previous inspection and are rated as good

The overall rating for Worthing Hospital remains as requires improvement.

Dr Tim Taylor welcomed the CQC's recognition of the improvements made to maternity services the hospital.

He said teams worked "extremely hard" to give people safe, compassionate care.

"I hope that they welcome this new rating as a recognition of the huge amount of commitment and compassion they offer every day," he said.

"We never lose sight of the utter devastation that families face if a baby is lost, and so the work to improve is never over – we must keep trying to be better."

He hoped local families would feel encouraged that the service was working to such a high level.

"We are committed to building on the progress made at Worthing, and to listening to families, including through our work with the Sussex National Maternity Voices Partnership," he said.

"We need to ensure future improvements are shaped around the needs of the people who use our services."

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