Countess of Chester Hospital maternity services unsafe - report

A hospital has been ordered to make urgent improvements after a damning inspection found its maternity unit was unsafe.

The department at Countess of Chester Hospital was found to have a dangerous lack of staff and suitable equipment, the Care Quality Commission said.

The hospital also scored the lowest rate nationally for staff morale, inspectors found.

Bosses said they were "working hard" to make improvements.

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust remains rated as requires improvement overall.

The unannounced inspection in February and March was prompted by concerns about the quality of care in certain areas.

It covered medical care, surgery, maternity care and urgent and emergency services, as well as leadership.

Inspectors found several failings at the maternity unit. Notably there were not enough staff with the right qualifications or skills to keep women and babies safe, or suitable equipment.

The report also said the trust did not learn from compromised safety incidents to avoid them happening again.

It said between April and November last year five patients had major haemorrhages after giving birth at the hospital, resulting in a need for unplanned hysterectomies.

Not all those incidents were reported as serious and action plans were not completed quickly, the CQC said, and one patient's lifesaving surgery was delayed as there was no hysterectomy kit in that part of the hospital.

Staff morale was said to be the lowest at any NHS trust in the country with some staff saying there was a culture of bullying and discrimination, while not all staff felt respected, supported and valued, inspectors said.

High waiting times were also highlighted, with just 13% of patients showing symptoms of breast cancer being seen within two weeks, when the national target is 93%.

Inspectors did find staff were caring and knew how to protect patients from abuse, while the urgent and emergency services were able to maintain a "good" rating.

Karen Knapton, the CQC's head of hospital inspection, said the trust had "work to do to ensure people consistently receive the safe and effective care they have a right to expect".

"We recognise NHS services are under enormous pressure," she said.

"However, senior leaders must be visible and have good oversight to manage and mitigate challenges and risks - and we found this was lacking."

Trust chief executive Dr Susan Gilby, said work was under way to address "key areas for further improvement".

"In our maternity department, we have implemented and are continuing to develop measures to ensure we can consistently provide patients with the safe and effective care they have a right to expect," she said.

Dr Gilby said the hospital also wanted to recognise "the work which has taken place to embed a culture of compassionate care and treatment across services".

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