Maternity CQC inspection response

In August, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out a short-notice inspection of maternity services at The James Cook University Hospital and the Friarage Hospital as part of its National Maternity Inspection Programme.

Inspectors also identified some areas for improvement which are already being addressed through a comprehensive action plan.

Improvements include:

• Ongoing recruitment to support maternity services across James Cook and the Friarage – this is in addition to the successful recruitment of all newly qualified midwives who trained at the trust in 2023.
• Improvements to the building and environment at James Cook, including plans to install a new birthing pool – the trust is continuing to seek investment to improve the environment in maternity services.

Inspectors found leaders were visible and approachable and engaged with people and the community to plan and manage services. Staff were also praised for the way they managed safety, infection prevention, safeguarding and care records.

Despite many positive findings in the report, maternity services at both hospitals have been rated as “Requires Improvement”. However, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s overall CQC rating remains as “Good”.

Dedicated to providing the best possible care

Dr Deepika Meneni, clinical director for the trust’s maternity services said: “The safety of those in our care is always our top priority and every member of our maternity team is dedicated to providing the best possible care.

“We are pleased that the reports reflect areas of outstanding practice as well as highlighting those areas where we know we need to make further improvements. All of the areas identified by the CQC for improvement are being addressed through a comprehensive action plan and many of these have already been completed. This includes successfully recruiting midwives to all our vacancies.

“We are proud of our team for the hard work, professionalism and caring attitude that they show each day and that is reflected in our excellent patient feedback and in how closely we work with the parents and parents-to-be who make up our local Maternity Voices Partnership.”

Both reports can be viewed at www.cqc.org.uk