Report finds pregnant women wait up to five days to be induced amid maternity staff shortages

The issues have been identified at ten hospitals amid concerns the delays are putting women and their babies at risk.

Seven have been issued with warnings by the Care Quality Commission since last year and three have reported problems in board papers.

In some cases, women who were classified as ‘high risk’ were forced to wait for up to five days for an induction of labour, a procedure which is encouraged if babies are overdue or if there are risks to mother and baby due to conditions such as high blood pressure or because the baby is not growing.

In other cases, women endured waits of longer than 48 hours to be transferred to the delivery suite after the process had been started.

The CQC said earlier this month that over 1,300 ‘red flags’ were raised in a five month period at University Hospitals of Leicester Trust due to delays in the induction of labour, linked to staffing levels.

Carolyn Jenkinson, deputy director of secondary and specialist healthcare at the CQC, said “At some maternity services we’ve found women having to wait long periods of time to be induced or for transfer to a labour ward once the induction process has started, and in some cases a lack of effective monitoring during periods of delay.

“Where we have found concerns about delayed treatment – including induction of labour – we have made clear to those trusts that effective oversight of the issue is vital and that all action possible should be taken to mitigate any risk and keep people using the service safe.”

Birte Harlev-Lam of the Royal College of Midwives, said “Safety is paramount, so midwives should only induce labour when there is a midwife available to support the woman and a bed on the labour ward.

“Inevitably, with the well-known staffing and resource issues in maternity services, there may sometimes be a delay, which is why effective monitoring by midwives is so important.”

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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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