Over half of English maternity units not meeting safety standards

A recent analysis of statistics has found that over half of maternity units in England fail consistently to meet safety standards.

 

Health regulator the Care Quality Commission rates 7 per cent of units as posing a high risk of avoidable harm and a further 48 per cent require improvement.

 

Despite several attempts to transform maternity care in the country, the figures are slightly worse than a few years ago.  The regulator says the pace of improvement has been disappointing.

 

The CQC went on to say that in most cases, pregnancy and birth are a safe and positive experience for women, but when things do go wrong, it is important to understand what happened and whether the outcome could have been different.

 

The most recent CQC safety ratings, which were published earlier this month, were analysed by the BBC for 147 maternity units in England and found that nine were given the lowest possible rating of inadequate for safety, meaning urgent action is required; 66 required improvement to reduce risk to mothers and babies, and ensure legal requirements on safety are met; 62 had a good rating for safety; and none were given the top rating of outstanding that would mean a comprehensive safety system was in place.

 

Victoria Vallance, the CQC’s director of secondary care, said inspectors  often find the same problems in the maternity services they visit, for example not managing risk when women are deteriorating.  She went on to say “We are worried.  We are concerned.  We have not seen the pace of improvement consistently, nationally, that we would hope and expect to see across maternity services.”

 

Chadwick Lawrence’s team of medical negligence lawyers have years of experience in high value and complex medical negligence compensation claims and have an excellent record.  The team is led by Tony May, a specialist cerebral palsy and birth injury solicitor, who has over 20 years experience in handling cases in which babies have been brain damaged or sustained other injuries as a result of medical negligence.  He and his team continue to represent many cerebral palsy children and young adults in medical negligence claims.  Tony also acts as a Court of Protection Deputy for many of the cerebral palsy and brain damaged clients that he has represented, so we can continue to support you after your case is settled.  Tony can be contacted by email on tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk.  Alternatively, please call and speak to any of Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist medical negligence Legal Aid and no win, no fee solicitors for free legal advice on Freephone 0800 304 7382