Last updated at 16:35, Wednesday, 19 September 2012

MATERNITY services at Furness General have been given a clean bill of health by a hospitals watchdog.

The Care Quality Commission today published its report of unannounced inspections at FGH on August 14.

The regulator, which also visited the Royal Lancaster Infirmary the day before, said both maternity units were meeting all essential standards of quality and safety.

Sir David Henshaw is interim chairman of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both sites.

He said: “I am delighted to have received the latest maternity reports from the CQC.

“I would like to offer a special thanks to our staff who have been on a difficult journey over the last two years but have continued to do what needed to be done to make things better.”

August’s inspections were carried out to check FGH had successfully addressed problems raised during previous checks.

A CQC report published in September 2011, after an inspection of maternity services in July, found FGH was failing to meet essential standards in six out of 10 key areas.

August’s inspection reviewed actions taken in relation to “major concerns” over the safety and suitability of premises, staffing and the assessing and monitoring of the quality of service provision.

It also looked at how the hospital had dealt with “moderate” concerns over record-keeping, cleanliness and infection control and respecting and involving people who use services.

The watchdog’s latest findings come following several difficult years for the trust, including the publication of a heavily critical CQC report into emergency care at FGH.

That was published in July this year following an inspection between January and March.

Sir David said: “When I came to the Trust in February, I knew that it was essential that we concentrated on making services safe and raise the bar in terms of what is an acceptable level of quality. This is evident across all outcomes reviewed.

“However, we know there is a still a lot to do in terms of making sure these improvements are sustainable in the long term.”

UHMBT chief executive, Jackie Daniel, added: “I genuinely believe that our midwives and doctors come to work to do a great job, day in, day out, and in the vast majority of cases, this is exactly what happens.

“They have risen to the challenge that the public and our regulators have rightly demanded of them - to consistently provide safe and high quality services.”

First published at 08:57, Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk