Maternity unit rated inadequate - what would you do?

[lalue]

I'm just short of 7 months pregnant and the maternity unit at our local hospital has now been found "inadequate" following an inspection by the CQC earlier in the year.

I've read the report and things that stuck out were staffing shortages, infection issues and inappropriate responses to safety incidents.

My initial reaction was sympathetic/not v surprised, as it's no secret that many/most hospitals are acutely suffering from a lack of staff. With that in mind, is an inadequate rating very unusual?

I'm not really sure where to go from here and how to weigh up what the issues in the report mean in practice. Other nearby units have decent ratings but the inspections seem to have been much longer ago, back when ours was fine too. However, speaking to others locally, many are making the shift to other hospitals, referencing a few very recent serious incidents at ours (but no details given).

Thanks for any thoughts!

One of the NCT mums has just said she's put in a transfer application after something her midwife told her about our local unit. But then a family member who's a midwife elsewhere and knows our unit well was surprised to hear people were concerned about it, and said our experience elsewhere locally was likely to be similar.

Any ideas on factors we can use to help make the decision? Thank you for any thoughts.

I’m a midwife, I honestly think there will be similar issues everywhere.

I didn't have any choice with my maternity unit, having to use the one at the local general hospital. Apparently it has a low (possibly inadequate) CQC rating however I had no issues with the care I received before or after giving birth.

I think you're going to find those issues anywhere. I was in hospital for 5 days due to long labour and then complications. In that time, the first 3/4 days they were fine staff wise but by the end they clearly had issues ! I also picked up an infection in labour but I can't fault them for the care that I received.

Its a sad time for the NHS and I think wherever you go you will find hardworking (overworked) staff who in general are trying their best.

My feeling in your position would be that the one openly identified as 'inadequate' has a spotlight on it and therefore is more likely to be having measures instigated to improve it, whilst those not recently reviewed are likely to have the same problems just not highlighted and not having anyone trying to improve them as actively.

You'd hope your hospital will now be acutely aware of their shortcomings and measures in place to improve. The others will still be business as usual. Add to that people changing hospitals putting extra work load on the others, whilst reducing it for yours, I think on balance I'd stay put.