THE chief executive of the trust which runs Basingstoke hospital has said she was “not surprised” by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report which said the maternity unit needs to improve.

The CQC made an unannounced visit to the maternity unit at the Aldermaston Road hospital in November last year after whistle-blowers, patients, and regulatory bodies raised concerns, including that midwives were too exhausted to keep patients safe because of low staffing levels.

Read more: Basingstoke hospital maternity unit told to improve by CQC

The CQC has dropped the rating for maternity services at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) from good to requires improvement.

Inspectors found the trust had breached regulations and has taken enforcement action, issuing a list of 13 action points the trust needs to make to improve.

Speaking to the Gazette after the report was published today, Alex Whitfield, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) said: “We are disappointed but, actually, we know that our services were really busy and we know we were moving staff around to provide care for women so it’s not a surprise.”

She blamed the problems highlighted in the report on a shortage of midwives, something which has been raised as a national problem, with hundreds of midwives joining vigils across the UK in November to raise awareness of the “maternity crisis”.

At HHFT there was a vacancy rate for registered midwives of 8.68 per cent in September last year, which had risen from 6.6 per cent in August.

At the time of the CQC inspection, the vacancy rate was 11 per cent.

The CQC report said: “Staffing within maternity services is a nationally recognised concern.”

HHFT had also identified a “high turnover rate for midwifery staff” and had carried out exit interviews with those who had left during the last 12 months.

The CQC report said: “This highlighted behaviour and communication concerns with a key group of senior staff.”

Ms Whitfield said there had been “peaks and troughs” with absence rates throughout the pandemic.

“We don’t have the option to pause,” she said, adding: “We have had various times where we have had to cancel training and redeploy staff to the labour ward or push back planned C-sections which we don’t like doing.”

She said the trust had been working since before Covid to increase the number of midwives, investing in more posts and international recruitment.

However, she said there is an underlying problem nationally with not enough midwives to fill the posts of those who have retired, something which she believes has been exacerbated by Covid.

When the CQC made the unannounced visit in November, the chief executive said the maternity ward was “worst in terms of sickness absence and midwives testing positive themselves for Covid”.

She added: “It was a challenging time. I know on the day they arrived we had five midwives call in sick that morning. There was a gap in the morning but we did redeploy midwives from elsewhere.”

Ms Whitfield also blamed staff shortages on the issues raised around cleanliness of equipment in the maternity unit.

She said: “Absolutely we would want everything clean. What we have done in terms of addressing that, it does link back to staffing. If you had all the midwives needed you would have someone supervising to make sure all the checks were done.”

She said the priority is to provide one-to-one care to women, adding: “What we have done is reinforce the need to keep these basic standards. It helps that we are recruiting more midwives.”

Asked what she would say to women now worried about having their baby at Basingstoke hospital following the report, she said: “I would say that we provide safe care, that we absolutely prioritise the care of mums having their babies in hospital.”

She highlighted the findings of a recent survey which showed that 100 per cent of those who completed it would recommend having a baby at Basingstoke hospital.

“Our staff do an incredible job of ensuring that mums are cared for,” Ms Whitfield said, adding: “We can always improve. We know we don’t get it right all of the time.”

Asked what the situation is now on the maternity unit, and whether it has improved, the chief executive said: “Things are better, but we have a way to go. Recruiting staff isn’t a quick process, we still have gaps. We can’t keep asking people to work extra shifts.”

She welcomed the CQC visit and said it had given the trust “insight” and identified where improvements need to be made.

She also thanked staff, saying: “My huge appreciation to our front-line team. Everyone who works in the maternity department is dealing with the pandemic and providing care to so many women is amazing.”

Message from the editor

Thank you for reading this story. We really appreciate your support.

Please help us to continue bringing you all the trusted news from Basingstoke by sharing this story or by following our Facebook page, click this link and click like.

Kimberley Barber