Two-thirds of England’s maternity units dangerously substandard, says CQC

Almost two-thirds of maternity units provide dangerously substandard care that puts women and babies at risk, the NHS watchdog has said in a damning report.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated 65% of maternity services in England as either “inadequate” or “requires improvement” for the safety of care – up from 54% last year.

Services are beset by a host of problems, including serious staff shortages and internal tensions, which mean that too many mothers and their babies receive care that is not good enough, it said.

Women too often face delays in accessing care, do not receive the one-to-one care from a midwife to which they are entitled or experience communication problems with staff looking after them, including being shouted at by midwives.

The CQC judged overall quality of care to be inadequate or require improvement at 85 maternity units, almost as many at which it rated it to be either good or outstanding – 87. The number of units offering substandard care has soared by 30 in the last year, from 55 to 85.

It said that, having inspected 73% of all maternity units, “the overarching picture is one of a service and staff under huge pressure. People have described staff going above and beyond for women and other people using maternity services and their families in the face of this pressure.

“However, many are still not receiving the safe, high-quality care that they deserve.”

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Source: The Guardian, 20 October 2023