The CQC has published its national review into maternity services across England, alongside a series of online resource materials aimed at sharing good practice and encouraging improvement.
In its review, the CQC found that unsuitable maternity estates are a “key barrier” to high-quality care. It found some maternity units were not fit for purpose, lacking space and facilities and, in a small number of cases, appropriate levels of potentially life-saving equipment. “Additional capital investment is needed to ensure women receive safe, timely care in an environment that meets their needs,” it reports.
Between August 2022 and December 2023, the CQC inspected 131 locations. Of these, 36% were rated as requires improvement and 12% inadequate. Only 4% were rated outstanding and 48% good.
The safety of maternity services remains a “key concern” with none of those inspected rated as outstanding on this question and 47% rated as requires improvement for being safe, and 18% as inadequate.
The CQC describes many of the issues it highlights in the report as “systemic” but says that with the right culture, services can improve and learn from one another. The resources that it has launched have been developed working with providers, maternity staff and stakeholder organisations. These can be implemented at Trust-level and are aimed at maternity service staff at all levels to help support their efforts to deliver high-quality care and make improvements where needed.
The resources are based around four themes:
• Leadership and culture
• Safety incidents
• Triage processes and procedures
• Healthcare equity.
Each includes information relating to what good looks like, what the CQC looks for on inspection and an example of excellent practice. There is also a space that links to guidance and good practice from other organisations.
