Maternity services back to 'good' after inspection

Maternity services at Royal Stoke University Hospital have been rated "good" by the health watchdog, following an unannounced inspection in November.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors carried out the visit to check on the progress of improvements that University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust was told to make at its previous inspection.

The CQC had issued a warning notice then to ensure the trust focussed on improving safety at the service.

Inspectors said during November's visit that they found significant improvements, which meant the warning notice was removed.

The overall rating for the service, as well as the ratings for how safe and well-led the service was, have now improved from "requires improvement" to "good".

Inspectors said the November visit did not look at how effective, caring and responsive the service was - and these remained rated as "good".

"We were pleased to see that leaders and staff working in maternity services at Royal Stoke University Hospital had acted on our feedback from the previous inspection and worked hard to make improvements," said Steven Paisley, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands.

He said leaders now thoroughly reviewed incidents to identify areas for improvement to reduce the risk of them happening again.

They also held weekly risk meetings to help keep people admitted to the maternity unit safe.

"The trust was proactive in seeking feedback from people and their families about their experiences of care," Mr Paisley said.

He said the inspection team spoke to a family member who described how staff were on hand to answer questions and provide reassurance.

He added they also spoke to a mother who talked about how staff had been confident, knowledgeable and kept her updated after the birth.

However, inspectors reported some staff did not feel confident that leaders would act on the concerns they raised, and there were some instances where staffing was below recommended levels due to cover needed in other areas.

The unit lacked posters and resources in other languages for people whose first language was not English, the report added.

"Overall, the maternity team at Royal Stoke University Hospital should be proud of the improvements our inspection found," Mr Paisley said.

"We have identified some areas where they can make continued progress, and we look forward to seeing their plans develop."

Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.