6 December 2019

The CQC today issued a press release about our Maternity services and Emergency Departments.

Below is a statement from our Chief Executive:

 

Paula Clark, Chief Executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “We are pleased the CQC has found improvements in our maternity services and patients and families say staff are kind and compassionate. 

“Since inspections in April we have appointed 29 new midwives, a new director of midwifery, a new care group director and two new consultants and we will continue to build on these improvements, but we appreciate there is more work still to do.

“In our emergency departments, we acted immediately on CQC findings by improving our processes, increasing specialist training for staff and we have already appointed a sepsis nurse.

“But we recognise there is more to do and we are building a programme of improvement to address the areas of concern and ensure our patients receive the best possible care.”

 

Notes to editors:

  • The focused inspections in Maternity took place in April 2019. The Trust was most recently inspected in November 2019 and the finding of this report will be published in 2020.
  • Written feedback from the CQC’s November preliminary findings in maternity include:
  • Governance processes were effective and had driven improvements
  • Staff spoke positively and with pride about the department
  • Patients told us they were treated by staff who were kind and compassionate
  • Staffing levels met patients’ needs at the time of the inspection

Additional recent improvements in our maternity departments include:

  • We have provided all of our senior delivery suite Midwives with enhanced training in the monitoring of babies heart rate in labour
  • We have introduced a central monitoring system which means that everyone can view the CTG (cardiotocograph-babies’ heart rate trace) from beyond the bedside
  • We have introduced mandatory training for all members of our teams in the management of emergency situations
  • All members of our teams must complete a yearly assessment of their knowledge and skills in the monitoring of babies in labour
  • Part of our work with NHS England on a project called “Saving Babies’ Lives” has led to increased ultrasound scanning for at risk babies
  • Fetal movement bracelets have been launched and we are soon to release a new version of our pregnancy health records as part of our work to reduce the risks around altered or reduced fetal movements
  • We have been working to reduce the number of babies admitted to the neonatal unit. Part of this work has involved the use of red hats and blankets to identify babies most at risk
  • We have introduced safety huddles in all areas and we have also introduced a daily management safety huddle to promote safety and reduce risk
  • The Midwife-led Unit (MLU) at the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, known as ‘Wrekin MLU’ is moving into a state-of-the-art new building in January as part of a £4m investment. It will be situated next door to the Consultant-led Unit at the Princess Royal Hospital
  • We have introduced a ‘fresh eyes’ system that means we now do hourly double checks of babies heart rate recordings during labour on the Delivery Suite
  • We have teamed up with national charity Best Beginnings to launch the Baby Buddy mobile app to support parents and parents-to-be during pregnancy, birth and the initial first six months of a baby’s life