More than two in five NHS maternity wards found to be ‘potentially unsafe’
MORE than two out of five NHS maternity wards offer potentially unsafe care, a report has found.
Eighty of 193 were rated inadequate or requiring improvement in the most recent inspection, the Care Quality Commission says.
The shocking 41 per cent figure was revealed after last week’s Ockenden report showed hundreds of families suffered traumatic births at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, Shrops, between 2000 and 2019.
Just two maternity units were rated “outstanding” for safety, 111 “good”, 72 “requires improvement” and eight “inadequate”.
Unit names were not given. Regulators highlighted short-staffing, bad work relationships and failing to learn from mistakes.
The commission, which regulates health and care in England, warned before the Ockenden report that improvement in the safety of maternity services was “too slow”.
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It said: “Safe, high-quality care should be the minimum expectation for women and babies.”
Medical negligence lawyer Eleanor Giblin said: “Sadly what happened at Shrewsbury and Telford doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident.
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Maternity scandals stretching back 20 years point to widespread problems nationally.”
Shropshire law firm Bowdler Lanyon said it had an “influx of inquiries” from families this week.
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And reviews are under way in East Kent and Nottingham.
The NHS said it is “committed to providing the safest possible maternity services”.
£12bn to slash wait for ops and tests
MILLIONS of NHS patients will get quicker tests and ops under plans to spend the £12billion-a-year National Insurance levy on frontline care.
The record healthcare funding will provide nine million checks, scans and operations — a 25 per cent rise on the three years before the pandemic.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid yesterday said 160 community diagnostic centres will open by 2025.
And new surgical hubs will cut waiting times for procedures. Extra funding will also go into the expansion of operating theatres and diagnostic centres for cancer.
Mr Javid said: “This will clear Covid backlogs, help to reduce waiting times and deliver millions more checks, scans and operations.”