Leeds Maternity Units Downgraded To 'inadequate'

Maternity services astatine 2 Leeds hospitals person been downgraded from "good" to "inadequate" by nan healthcare regulator, because their failings posed "a important risk" to women and babies.

Concerns from unit and patients astir value of attraction and staffing levels were substantiated by nan Care Quality Commission (CQC) during unannounced inspections astatine Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS Trust.

England's regulator has now issued a informing announcement which requires nan spot to return contiguous action to improve. Neonatal services person besides been downgraded from "good" to "requires improvement".

Over nan past six months, nan BBC has spoken to 67 families who opportunity they knowledgeable inadequate attraction astatine nan trust, including parents who opportunity their babies suffered avoidable wounded aliases death. We besides talked to 5 whistleblowers who said nan erstwhile CQC "good" standing did not bespeak reality.

In consequence to nan CQC downgrade, LTH said it had committed to improving its maternity and neonatal services astatine Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and St James' University Hospital.

During its December 2024 and January 2025 inspections, nan CQC recovered charismatic regularisation breaches relating to consequence management, safe environment, learning pursuing incidents, infection prevention and control, medicines guidance and staffing.

Areas of interest highlighted successful nan maternity units astatine some hospitals included:

• People being "not safe" and "at consequence of avoidable harm" - while investigations into incidents, and points raised from these to alteration learning, were not ever evident

• Babies and families not ever being supported and treated pinch dignity and respect

• Leadership being "below acceptable standard" and not supporting nan transportation of high-quality care

• Staff being reluctant to raise concerns and incidents - because "the spot had a blasted culture"

• Staff, contempt being passionate astir their work, struggling to supply their desired modular of attraction because of staffing issues

LTH provided grounds to nan CQC showing it had reported 170 maternity "red emblem incidents", indicating location had been staffing issues, betwixt May and September 2024.

The CQC's findings besides highlighted staffing concerns successful neonatal services astatine some hospitals, pinch a shortage of qualified unit to attraction for babies pinch analyzable needs.

This coming autumn, nan spot says 35 recently qualified midwives are owed to commencement activity and it has besides appointed further midwifery activity roles.

The regulator will beryllium monitoring nan trust's services closely, including done further inspections - says nan CQC's head successful nan northbound of England, Ann Ford - to make judge patients person safe attraction while improvements are implemented.

"We would for illustration to convey each those group who bravely shared their concerns," she said. "This helps america to person a amended image of nan attraction being provided to group and to attraction our inspection successful nan applicable areas."

One family who told nan BBC they judge their kid would person survived had they received amended curen is Amarjit Kaur and Mandip Singh Matharoo, whose babe was stillborn successful January 2024.

The CQC study highlights "how inadequate nan work is, which leads to diligent harm", they told us.

"Unfortunately, it's excessively small excessively precocious for our girl Asees and us, but we dream that this will trigger superior alteration wrong nan strategy and return nan concerns of patients utilizing nan work much seriously."

Fiona-Winser Ramm, whose girl Aliona died successful 2020 aft what an inquest recovered to beryllium a number of "gross failures", described nan CQC's findings arsenic "horrific".

"The concerns we person been raising for 5 years person been proved true," she says.

But she believes nan CQC has been slow to act.

"The CQC inspected Leeds successful 2023 and someway rated them arsenic being good. Let's beryllium clear these problems haven't conscionable appeared successful nan past 2 years, they are systemic."

In response, nan CQC said nan 2023 inspection had been portion of a nationalist maternity inspection programme focussing specifically connected information and leadership, which recovered immoderate areas for improvement, but besides identified immoderate bully practice.

"As nan independent regulator we are committed to ensuring our assessments of nan value and information of each services are meticulous and bespeak nan experiences of nan group that usage them," added Ann Ford.

All 67 families who person spoken to nan BBC want an independent reappraisal into nan trust's maternity services - and a group of them person asked Health Secretary Wes Streeting for it to beryllium led by elder nurse Donna Ockenden.

Some Leeds families besides joined different bereaved parents from crossed England this week to impulse Mr Streeting to clasp a nationalist enquiry into maternity information - he is yet to make a decision.

Chief executive of LTH, Prof Phil Wood, said successful a statement: "My privilege is to make judge we urgently return action to present these improvements."

The spot is committed to providing "safe, compassionate care", he added, and has already started making improvements, including recruitment, and addressing concerns astir culture.

"We present much than 8,500 babies each twelvemonth and nan immense mostly of those are safe and affirmative experiences," he said. "But we recognise that's not nan acquisition of each families."

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You tin scope Divya straight and securely done encrypted messaging app Signal on: +44 7961 390 325, by email astatine divya.talwar@bbc.co.uk, aliases her Instagram account.