Interactive map reveals how safe if it is to give birth at your local hospital
People can now find out here how their hospital’s maternity unit compares nationally after more than half have been found to be “failing”.
An interactive map gives hospital ratings by the Care Quality Commission in a scale from outstanding to inadequate. And worryingly of the 101 NHS maternity units inspected over the past 12 months, 55% are considered substandard.
Of those, 39 have been given a rating of “requires improvement”, while 17 have been deemed “inadequate”. In comparison, 41 maternity units have been rated as “good”, and just four are considered “outstanding” - Royal Surrey County Hospital, West Middlesex University Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, and Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital.
Ratings are based on factors such as safety, efficiency and care and services which are given an inadequate description means that there is a high risk of avoidable harm to mothers and babies under the CQC criteria. Poole Hospital was one location that saw its rating drop to inadequate due to low staffing numbers while the Royal Sussex County Hospital was also found not to have enough midwifery staff.
The proportion of spontaneous deliveries has plummeted over the last decade. Back in 2012/13, almost two-thirds (64%) of deliveries were spontaneous. That fell to just 43% by 2022/23, the latest year for which figures are available. The number of caesarean deliveries, meanwhile, has risen from 13% to 23% in that time and induced deliveries made up 23% of the total in 2012/13, but 43% in 2022/23.
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The CQC began a new maternity inspection programme in August 2022 in a bid to see services improve. The programme was launched after the Ockenden review into the Shropshire maternity scandal, which tragically saw 300 babies left dead or brain damaged due to inadequate care.
Last November when the CQC had inspected 89 maternity units during 2023 it found that again more than half were failing. Of the 89, 32 were given a rating of “requires improvement”, while 14 have been deemed “inadequate”, meaning 52% of inspected maternity units were considered substandard.
In comparison, 40 maternity units were rated as “good”, and just three were considered “outstanding” - West Middlesex University Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, and Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital, all in London.
The report found continued staffing pressures, ongoing concerns with the quality of care across some services, and continued concerns around inequalities in access and experience when using maternity services. Staff regularly stated they were overworked, exhausted and stressed, and cost of living pressures were adding further challenge to the recruitment and retention of staff.
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