East Kent Hospitals maternity units rated ‘good’ in latest inspection by Care Quality Commission

The maternity services at William Harvey Hospital, Ashford and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, Margate have been rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC inspected the service in December 2024 and found the Trust had made ‘significant improvements’ since its last inspection in 2023.

It rated both units as ‘good’ for being caring, effective, responsive and well-led.

The inspections were carried out to follow up on the urgent conditions CQC imposed upon the trust that required it to take action to ensure significant improvements were made to safety, leadership, culture, the environment and staffing levels. CQC found significant improvements had been made.

The inspection team found that women and babies were protected and kept safe; that the units were clean and well-maintained; that there were enough staff who were well-trained; and that the units had a good learning culture, where people could raise concerns.

It also found that the outdated hospital buildings meant some clinical areas and labour rooms in both units are too small and lack en-suite facilities, compromising the care staff are able to give, and that there is currently only one obstetric theatre at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital. It therefore rated the units as ‘requires improvement’ for ‘safe’.

The Trust has been given £1.8m to progress a business case for the development of the maternity unit at Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, which will increase the size of labour rooms and provide a second obstetric theatre for caesarean sections.

It will also extend the maternity triage area in the next phase of refurbishment at William Harvey Hospital.

There has also been investment in the relocation and refurbishment of the bereavement suite at William Harvey Hospital. The refurbished Twinkling Stars suite is a dedicated area for families located away from the busy Labour ward. The work is being funded by donations to East Kent Hospitals Charity and opens soon.

‘Significant improvements’

Serena Coleman, CQC’s deputy director of operations in Kent, said: “When we inspected maternity services at both William Harvey Hospital and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, we found significant improvements and a better quality service for women, people using the service and their babies.

“Our experience tells us that when a service isn’t well-led it’s difficult for them to provide good care in other areas. This turnaround in ratings across both services demonstrates what can be achieved with strong and capable leaders who focus on an inclusive and positive culture.

“We saw the positive impact of improved staffing and culture at both hospitals. Women told us about feeling well-supported throughout birth, with one QEQM mother describing how a midwife stayed after her shift finished to provide continuous support during a difficult labour.

“Leaders had taken steps to improve the physical environment across both hospitals where they were able to, and safety risks posed by the estate and ward environment were being managed and mitigated more effectively.

However, concerns remain about the size of the labour rooms which were not always big enough to include essential equipment such as infant resuscitaires.

“Resuscitaires were now located directly outside each labour room to ensure quick access and avoid mothers and babies being separated for lengthy periods of time in situations where babies required resuscitation following birth.

“Leaders had similar problems at QEQM hospital. The small room size and lack of air conditioning impacted on women’s comfort and as at WHH, their ability to move around freely during labour.

“However, the trust has made good progress and now need to demonstrate that they can embed, sustain and build on these improvements going forward.”

Kirkup Review

The improvements follow previous failings in care that were highlighted in 2022 in the publication of an independent report which  found 45 baby deaths could have been avoided.

NHS England and NHS Improvement commissioned Dr Bill Kirkup to carry out that independent review into the circumstances of the maternity deaths at the East Kent Hospitals Trust sites in response to a concerning number of avoidable baby deaths.

Issues with maternity were brought into the spotlight following the death of baby Harry Richford at Margate’s QEQM Hospital in 2017 after a series of errors.

In 2021 East Kent Hospitals Trust was fined a total of £761,170 – inclusive of costs – for failing to discharge its duty to provide safe care and treatment, resulting in avoidable harm with the death of seven day old Harry Richford and sub standard care of his mum Sarah at QEQM Hospital in  2017.

Some 200 families came forward to the Kirkup review over the preventable deaths of their babies.

East Kent Hospitals Chief Executive Tracey Fletcher said: “The reports published by the CQC today reflect the significant hard work and dedication of staff across the maternity service.

“This is an important milestone in our continuing work to improve our services and embed the lessons outlined in the ‘Reading the Signals’ report into our Trust, published by Dr Kirkup in 2022. I want to reiterate, particularly to the families affected by the failings in care described in the ‘Reading the Signals’ report, our commitment to continue to improve our services and work to provide the highest standard of care for our communities. We will use the feedback in the reports to further improve.

“I am delighted that the CQC team saw the significant improvement that has taken place so far. I would like to thank all the maternity team for their hard work.”

Sarah Hayes, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, added: “The improvements in our maternity units, recognised by the Care Quality Commission, are important for our families, staff and our communities.

“We are committed to delivering safe, compassionate care across all of our services, including in maternity.”

Michelle Cudjoe, Director of Midwifery and Nursing, said: “The teams have worked tirelessly to drive the improvements captured in these reports. I would like to add my thanks to everyone who works in the team. This is a maternity service that has come a long way in a short period of time and I am delighted that the impact of their efforts has been recognised by the regulator in this way.”

Zoe Woodward, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Associate Medical Director for Women’s Health, said: “This much-improved CQC rating is testament to the hard work and dedication from all members of the maternity team.

“I want to personally thank all of the team for everything they do to provide safe, kind and personalised care to every woman and birthing person who accesses our services.”

East Thanet MP Polly Billington said: ““Mothers and babies have been badly failed by maternity services at QEQM in the past, so I’m really pleased to see the unit has now been rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission.

“This improvement is testament to the hard work I know has been put in by hospital management and staff to turn things around.

“With £1.8 million to plan additional improvements at the maternity unit, I feel more confident that QEQM has turned a corner, and they have my full support to continue improving care for new mothers in Thanet.”

Chief Midwife for the south east at NHS England Kaye Wilson said the ratings mark a ‘turning point.’

She said: “This report marks a turning point for services at East Kent and is the result of the commitment, determination and sheer hard work of midwives, obstetricians and the whole maternity team at the Trust to create a strong learning and improvement culture.

“While the previous experiences and suffering of babies and their families at east Kent were unacceptable and no one can ever make up for that, the scale of improvement described in the CQC report today is an important moment for staff and patients.”

The report will be published on CQC’s website in the coming days.