Inspectors say North Yorkshire maternity service must improve

The Care Quality Commission have told the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton to improve its maternity care.

The service was given a rating of “requires improvement” after the health watchdog said their leaders did not always manage risk well and that they regularly had to close due to staff shortages.

The South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the unit, said it was addressing the concerns through a comprehensive action plan.

During the inspections which were carried out in August last year, it was found that the mid-wife led Friarage Maternity Centre (FMC) had “issues with recruitment and retention and sickness of staff”.

The report said the unit regularly had to close for births, mainly because staff were redeployed to the trust’s James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) in Middlesbrough.

It added “Staff also told us they had frank discussions with women and birthing people, and advised them they could not guarantee a member of the team would be available to look after them in labour.”

Carolyn Jenkinson, deputy director of secondary and specialist care at the CQC, said leaders of maternity units at the trust “didn’t always understand and manage the priorities both maternity services faced in a timely way.

“At the Friarage Hospital, the maternity unit was sometimes closed for births as staff were required to work at the James Cook University Hospital instead, due to low staffing levels.  This made it difficult for people to plan a birth there.”

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.”

She added “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.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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