By Tim Castle Reuters - Friday, January 25 12:04 am
LONDON (Reuters) - The largest ever survey of maternity care in
England has found widespread failings, with services in London
criticised as the worst, the government's health watchdog said on
Friday.
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The Healthcare Commission said many women were receiving inferior
screening of their unborn babies. It said there were too few
midwives to provide one-to-one care during labour.
Four out of ten pregnant women failed to get all 11 recommended
checks on their babies during ultrasound scans, which include tests
on the baby's heart, face and lips.
Only 11 percent of hospital trusts said they had met higher quality
requirements set for Down's syndrome screening in April last
year.
Staffing was found to be below levels recommended by professional
medical authorities, who advise that 36 midwives are needed per
1,000 deliveries to meet the government's target of one-to-one care
for all women in labour.
The average level of midwife staffing in maternity units was found
to be 31 per 1,000 deliveries. Nine trusts had just 26 or fewer
midwives per 1,000.
The watchdog surveyed all 148 hospital trusts providing full
maternity services in England, responsible for around 600,000
births a year.
The best performing maternity units were in the north of England,
with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust the best of all.
Maternity services in London and central England were the lowest
rated, with West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust receiving the
worst score.
Health Commission Chief Executive Anna Walker said she was
concerned about London's poor performance.
"There are a number of factors that may have influenced these
results, such as lower staffing levels and the mobility and mix of
the population. But London trusts need to rise to these
challenges."
She said low ratings did not mean a maternity service was
unsafe.
The Liberal Democrats called for an immediate review of maternity
staffing capacity.
"With the birth rate rising, many midwives set to retire and not
enough jobs for those newly qualified, the situation will only get
worse", said the party's Health Spokesman Norman Lamb.
Births have risen by 72,000 since 2001, while there was a fall in
the numbers of midwives last year.
The NHS Confederation, representing 95 percent of National Health
Service organisations, said it recognised that the survey had
revealed "deep concerns" about maternity services.