Health bosses insist Shropshire hospitals are safe
Health bosses today insisted to hospital patients in Shropshire: "You are safe being treated by us."
They moved to reassure the public that NHS care in Shropshire is safe and said planned changes will yield improved care.
Staff at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) were speaking after the publication of a Care Quality Commission report criticising some of the trust's midwifery guidelines.
Inspectors were concerned with the trust's process for investigating foetuses that move less or stop moving, which can be a sign the growing baby is unwell.
Deirdre Fowler, director of nursing, midwifery and quality at SaTH, said: “We meet national guidelines in our maternity unit and conduct twice daily consultant-led ward rounds.
"We have now provided the CQC with the records that show this.
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"Midwives in Shropshire’s midwifery-led units have in the past used CTG to monitor foetal movements and where there has been any cause for concern referred a mother to an obstetrician in the maternity unit in Princess Royal Hospital.
“In regards to the reviewing of CTG fetal monitoring by midwives in the MLUs, the trust has now changed its approach and all women are now monitored in PRH Obstetric Unit.
“It is very important that mothers who are concerned about their baby’s movements contact the trust or their midwife to be reviewed.”
The trust has introduced a 'care bundle' to tackle smoking in pregnancy, risk assessment and surveillance for babies with restricted growth, raising awareness of reduced foetal movement and monitoring the baby during labour.
As part of the drive to raise standards SaTH successfully applied for a Health Education England grant last year, and has since developed a training faculty.
One way the midwifery staff have tried to raise awareness on wards at the Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital is to introduce a 'red hat' system.
Babies who are at risk of admission to neonatal units have been given tiny red hats, knitted by members of the Shropshire community, to alert staff.
In January of this year 5.9 per cent of babies on the maternity ward were admitted to the neonatal unit unexpectedly, and this figure fell to 3.4 per cent by September.
From November 12, SaTH will join a national programme whereby its maternity services will have all of its major investigations carried out by an independent body.
Dr Adam Gornall, the trust's clinical director for maternity, welcomed the move, saying: "More external analysis and more scrutiny is a valuable tool that will help us keep improving."
PRH and RSH were both visited by inspectors between August 21 and 31. Serious concerns were raised and the hospitals are now being placed under ongoing supervision.
Accident and emergency departments were also identified as an area of concern. The unit at PRH is due to close overnight due to staff shortages and there have been issues raised in the past over a failure to identify sepsis in patients.
Regarding the A&E at Shropshire's hospitals, Dr Edwin Borman, medical director at SaTH, said: “We have implemented an action plan that focuses on the areas highlighted by the CQC, including the effective monitoring of patients that may be at risk of sepsis.
“We have also introduced daily safety huddles and senior clinically-led two hourly sweeps of the department; as well as spot checks overnight and out of hours.
“The practice of ‘boarding’ patients in our acute wards – in effect finding space on wards to accommodate patients during periods of high demand - is not in place, and we are working really hard to ensure that this does not re-occur."
