Royal Derby Hospital Trust maternity services require improvement states the Care Quality Commission

In August 2023 inspectors from the Care Quality Commission carried out a short notice inspection of the maternity services at the Trust looking at issues of safety and whether the maternity unit was well led.

As a consequence of the inspection the rating of the hospital went down to requires improvement both in regard to safety and leadership.Some of the key findings in Royal Derby Hospital Trust's maternity services report were as follows:

1. The service did not always assess risks in relation to foetal monitoring and post-partum haemorrhage.
2. There was a shortage of staff.
3. The staff were not always up to date with training and key skills and were following protocols that did not align with national guidelines.
4. Safety incidents were not identified, managed and investigated appropriately. Any lessons from safety investigations were not embedded into the service.

The inspection team were particularly concerned because after a previous inspection they had raised concerns and they did not feel that the Trust had taken actions on those concerns. They felt now that as a result there is a real risk of harm to patients.

You can find the reports in relation to the maternity services at both Royal Derby Hospital and Queens Hospital below:

• Royal Derby Hospital - Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)
• Queens Hospital - Care Quality Commission (cqc.org.uk)

Our Clinical Negligence team across Freeths has years of experience in dealing with the effects of poor maternity care, birth injuries to mother and baby and stillbirth. If you think that you, or a loved one, may have been affected by negligent medical care during pregnancy or birth, you are welcome to contact Karen Reynolds, Siobhan Genever, Demi Shephard or Ibrahim Mahmood to discuss how we can help and support you.