CQC Maternity Reports Derby Burton NHS: Royal Derby Improves, Queens Still Needs Work

• The CQC upgraded Royal Derby Hospital's maternity services to 'good' across all domains, while Queens Hospital Burton's maternity services were re-rated as 'requires improvement'.
• Royal Derby Hospital breached two regulations related to staffing and incident reporting in community services.
• Queens Hospital Burton breached three regulations concerning staffing, safe care, and overall management.
• Positive findings included compassionate staff, adherence to a national safety action plan, and patient-centered care for diverse needs.
• Persistent issues at Queens Hospital Burton involved unaddressed incident reporting, staff discouragement, insufficient staffing, and significant delays in patient care.

While Queens Hospital Burton has made improvements in some areas, significant concerns persist, particularly regarding unaddressed incident reporting and staffing levels.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) recently published its findings following a June inspection of maternity services operated by University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. These CQC maternity reports Derby Burton NHS highlight a dual outcome for the trust's facilities: Royal Derby Hospital saw an upgrade in its maternity service rating, while Queens Hospital Burton received a re-rating that maintained its 'requires improvement' status.

The inspection by the Care Quality Commission maternity services team focused on evaluating the safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness, and leadership across both hospital sites. While Royal Derby Hospital demonstrated significant progress, Queens Hospital Burton continues to face challenges, necessitating further improvements to meet regulatory standards. The CQC has since mandated the trust to submit a detailed action plan outlining its strategy to address the identified deficiencies.

The Royal Derby Hospital maternity rating improved from 'requires improvement' to 'good' across all five assessed domains: safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led. This comprehensive upgrade reflects sustained efforts by the University Hospitals Derby Burton CQC team to enhance service delivery. However, even with these advancements, Royal Derby Hospital was found to be in breach of two specific regulations concerning staffing and incident reporting, both within its community services.

Conversely, Queens Hospital Burton's maternity service was rated 'good' for its effective, caring, and responsive aspects, yet it received a 'requires improvement' rating for both safety and leadership. The CQC inspection findings Derby Burton revealed that Queens Hospital Burton was in breach of three distinct regulations: those pertaining to staffing levels, the provision of safe care and treatment, and the overall management of the service. These breaches underscore critical areas where the NHS maternity regulatory compliance falls short at the Burton site.

Despite the regulatory breaches, the CQC noted several commendable practices across both hospitals. Women receiving care consistently described frontline staff as kind and compassionate, a sentiment echoed in responses to the national maternity survey. The trust demonstrated its commitment to best practices by meeting all ten points of a national safety action plan designed for maternity and neonatal services. Inspectors observed that staff effectively assessed women's needs, developing care plans that included comprehensive risk assessments and tailored adjustments for individuals with diverse requirements, such as neurodiverse people, those with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, or language barriers. This approach clearly placed women and their preferences at the center of their care.

However, significant concerns persist at Queens Hospital Burton. Leaders had not fully addressed incident reporting issues identified in a previous inspection, with staff reportedly discouraged from raising internal concerns. The Queens Hospital Burton CQC breaches also highlighted insufficient staffing, impacting safety both within the hospital and the community midwifery team. Inspectors documented instances of delayed patient reviews, including one woman who waited ten hours to see a doctor. Furthermore, records indicated that some women self-discharged while awaiting assessment, and three additional incidents of delayed time-critical care were reported. Sarah Ivory-Donnelly, CQC deputy director of hospitals, secondary and specialist healthcare in its central region, acknowledged the solid progress at Royal Derby Hospital but emphasized that more work is still needed, particularly at Queens Hospital Burton, with the CQC committed to closely monitoring the trust's ongoing improvements.

Lawyers advising healthcare providers, particularly NHS trusts, should note the specific regulatory breaches identified by the CQC at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton. These findings highlight critical areas of non-compliance in staffing, safe care, incident reporting, and overall management within maternity services, indicating potential enforcement actions and the need for robust improvement plans to mitigate regulatory risk. This serves as a benchmark for other trusts to review their own compliance frameworks.

Source: Original reporting via Care Quality Commission