Maternity services at James Paget Hospital 'requires improvement'- CQC
The Care Quality Commission found women were promptly seen and many spoke positively about their care. However, some issues remain
Maternity services at the James Paget hospital have been upgraded to 'requires improvement' from 'inadequate' by inspectors.
The Care Quality Commission found women were promptly seen and many spoke positively about their care.
However they found critical information wasn't always stored properly and there wasn't a specific safeguarding policy.
This work was carried out to follow up on the progress of improvements they were told to make in a previous inspection when the service was rated inadequate.
As part of this, the ratings for how safe and well-led the service has also been upgraded.
How caring, responsive and effective the unit is was not looked at during this inspection and remain unrated.
Inspectors found:
-The service now has a fully established leadership team following a period of instability, with staff describing senior leaders as visible, approachable and supportive.
-Women spoke positively about the care they received, describing staff as helpful and saying they felt involved in decisions about their care.
-Women said they didn’t experience discrimination or inequality, and the service made reasonable adjustments available for those with disabilities or communication difficulties.
-There is a genuine culture of safety and learning, with staff feeling confident to raise concerns, incidents investigated thoroughly, and lessons shared across the team.
Women were seen promptly in triage, with all highest-priority cases seen immediately and 91% of urgent cases reviewed by a doctor within 15 minutes.
The Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership was actively involved in improving the service, contributing to staff training and gathering feedback from women.
However:
The bereavement room was located within the labour ward rather than a separate area, meaning families who have experienced the loss of a baby need to pass through an active labour ward, which can be distressing and need to be addressed.
There was no dedicated telephone triage midwife in place, meaning women seeking advice during busy periods could face delays in getting through.
There was no specific safeguarding policy for maternity services, so staff relied on the trust’s adults and children’s safeguarding policies, which weren’t always applicable.
Paper records weren’t always stored securely, critical information including safeguarding details could be missed when women moved between teams.
What has the James Paget Hospital had to say?
Jonathan Gardner, Executive Managing Director at James Paget Hospital, said “We are pleased that the commitment to putting the needs of mothers, babies and families at the core of our maternity services have been recognised through the CQC’s inspection report.”
“Since the outcome of the CQC’s inspection 2023, our maternity department and the whole hospital has responded to improve the services we provide for people giving birth and their babies. We will now focus on the additional actions we can take to continue to improve maternity care, and the wider quality and safety of our services.”
"These improvements see the service on a solid improvement trajectory"
Professor Lesley Dwyer, Chief Executive of the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group, said:
"The latest CQC inspection shows that James Paget Hospital’s maternity team is making strong and meaningful improvements that benefit the care they provide for local people. Staff now describe leadership as visible and supportive, and women report positive experiences of care, feeling involved in decisions and being treated equitably. The service has a strong safety culture, with concerns raised confidently, incidents investigated properly, and learning shared.”
“I am particularly pleased to note that triage waits have improved significantly, with all highest priority cases seen immediately and most urgent cases reviewed by a doctor within 15 minutes.”
“While there is more to do, these improvements see the service on a solid improvement trajectory with the right leadership, skills and resources in place to be confident of delivering high quality care for the local community”