Homerton Hospital maternity unit still ‘requires improvement’

Under scrutiny: inspectors have again identified areas to be improved at Homerton Hospital’s maternity unit. Photograph: David Holt

The maternity unit at Homerton Hospital “still requires improvement”, according to the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) report published on 11 February.

A team of inspectors and specialist advisors, who visited the hospital in October and November last year, recommended improvements be made to ensure maternity services were “safe and well-led”.

The maternity unit has been under intense scrutiny since a report in August 2015 found that “women and their babies were not being adequately monitored”, and concerns were raised by the local clinical commissioning group.

Healthcare campaigners have called for greater transparency from the hospital, after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted last year revealed that 12 women with links to its maternity unit had died since 2006.

The latest inspection found “robust observational checks of babies were still not in place”, as well as “isolated incidents” where the maternity unit’s cleanliness could be improved.

However, the report found significant improvements had been made since the previous inspection in March 2015, including better patient care, a stronger governance system and a higher standard of hygiene overall.

The inspection deemed all other units and areas of Homerton hospital to be “good”, including the services for children and young people, the intensive-critical care unit and the surgery.

Professor Sir Mike Richards, the Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said: “Over the past three years, there have been some tragic cases at Homerton University Hospital and I extend my deepest sympathy to those families.

“On our last inspection, we identified a number of issues, and we told the trust that urgent action must be taken to address these concerns and minimise the risks to mothers and babies.

“I am pleased to report that we have found some real improvements in the care and welfare of women using maternity services, and in the standard of cleanliness and infection control.

“However, we still have some concerns regarding the need for robust observational checks of babies, and a more consistent system to absorb the recommendations from serious incidents.”

Chief Executive of Homerton NHS Foundation Trust, Tracey Fletcher, said: “We welcome this latest report from the CQC inspectors and are pleased that they have recognised the improvements we have implemented.

“Whilst we are moving in the right direction, we also recognise that we still have more work to do in areas such as strengthening our governance protocols and embedding good practice procedures.”