This item will be presented by Diane Sarker, BTUH. 

A report is provided in member’s papers to support this item

This item was presented by Diane Sarker Chief Nursing Officer, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.   Key points included:

·         6 incidents were reported as a cluster whereby 6 babies were sent for cooling.  Incidents were proactively reported to CQC.

·         The CQC carried out an inspection of maternity services at Basildon University Hospital on Friday 12 June 2020. Following this inspection, and a review of Trust incident reports, the CQC published its report on Wednesday 19 August 2020. This rated the service as Inadequate.  Key findings included:

o   Poor multi-disciplinary working

o   Training was not always up to date Training has been introduced to monitor women and babies.  It had been reported to CQC that not all doctors had completed training which was not the case.

o   Staff shortages

o   Safety concerns were not always identified and escalated

o   Junior medical staff were not supported sufficiently

o   High-risk women were giving birth in a low-risk area

o   Incidents were not always graded correctly

·         Members learned that following the Inspection report 9 women wanted care transferred to Southend hospital following the report. 

·         Members were asked to note that while a number of improvements that had been made which include: 

o   A new senior management team has been recruited.  An interim Director of Midwifery has also now been appointed.

o   £1.8m has been invested in new staff, including an additional 20 Midwives

o   Three more delivery beds have been created for high risk women

o   A 24hour triage service has been created to ensure women can be seen immediately when they need hospital support. 

o   Currently in the process of developing a new birthing pool

o   Building work completed to drug rooms to ensure better medicine management safety

o   Improved security to protect mothers and children

·         It was acknowledged that there is still more to do, particularly around internal governance arrangements to ensure there are robust reporting and monitoring arrangements, underpinned by the new leadership team.

During discussions the following points were made:

·         Members welcomed the thorough feedback and the substantial action being taken, as reported.

·         The importance of engaging patients and families and capturing the views of women, mothers and people that use the maternity was acknowledged.  Members were advised that feedback is currently sought from a sample of 10 women per day on what is going well and not so well, which is reported to the CQC on a weekly basis.  No substantial concerns raised with most comments being positive and happy with their experience.  BTUH is also working closely with the maternity voices partnership who provide feedback on surveys that they complete.  Any concerns raised are reported to the Head of Midwifery who investigates and provides feedback to women and families on their concerns.

·         It was made clear that Southend are not in the same position as BTUH.  Members noted the challenges experienced at BTUH Maternity Suite when compared to the wider trust across Mid and South Essex.    

·         It was acknowledged several references to poor culture and colleagues not getting on and performance should not be attributed to a high risk cohort of patients.  Organisational development work is being undertaken with teams and individuals, ensuring that professionalism is maintained.

·         Sought commitment from BTUH to continue to engage Children’s Social Services.  A new Safeguarding team is now in place and their role is to provide effective safeguarding and engaging partners. 

·         It was agreed that a further report would be provided to the Board at its meeting in January 2021.

RESOLVED: Members noted and commented on the report.