Trust branded ‘inadequate’ for leadership and maternity
One of the trusts worst affected by coronavirus has been issued with two warning notices and rated ‘inadequate’ for leadership, following a Care Quality Commission inspection.
The regulator raised serious concerns about the safety of Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation Trust’s maternity services, as well as the oversight and learning from incidents.
It also found staff were experiencing multiple problems with a newly installed electronic patient record, while systems for managing the elective waiting list were said to be unsuitable.
In maternity services, the inspectors flagged severe staff shortages and a failure to properly investigate safety incidents.
They said there were three occasions during the inspections when the antenatal and post-natal ward was served by only one midwife, despite the interim head of midwifery saying this would never happen.
Inspectors also highlighted five incidents last year where women had suffered a major post-partum haemorrhage, involving the loss of more than two litres of blood and which resulted in an unplanned hysterectomy. The CQC said two were not reported as serious incidents, and where learning had been identified from the others, action plans were not being completed on time.
The CQC said it was only made aware of the incidents by a whistleblower, while internal actions agreed in December 2021 had still not been implemented two months later.
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Source: HSJ, 15 June 2022