Maternity rating downgraded at two Birmingham hospitals

A Birmingham trust, which is accused of having a toxic culture, has had their ratings for maternity services at two hospitals downgraded.

The Care Quality Commission issued a warning notice for the service at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital and rated it inadequate, and the service at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield was deemed to “require improvement”.

A former midwife who joined Heartlands Hospital in 2013, said “Everybody knew the staffing was low, everybody knew that the physical space wasn’t appropriate, but you just dealt with it.”

University Hospitals Birmingham, which is one of the largest trusts in England, has been heavily criticised with repeated cases of a toxic environment and bullying being revealed in a report published in March by Professor Mike Bewick.

Following a joint investigation by Newsnight and BBC West Midlands, it was revealed at the end of last year whistleblowers at the trust had said a climate of fear amongst staff was putting patients at risk.

An inspection of maternity services at the hospitals took place in February, following which a warning notice was issued to focus the trust’s attention “on rapidly making the necessary improvements” at Heartlands, adding that the maternity service there did not have enough staff to care for women and keep them safe.

Following the ratings, the trust said that while the service was facing significant challenges in areas highlighted by the inspections, it had worked to make improvements, including expanding the pregnancy assessment emergency room and “improvements to staffing of the area”.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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