logo
Derby and Burton hospitals wants maternity restrictions removed

Derby and Burton hospitals wants maternity restrictions removed

BBC News20-07-2025
The trust in charge of Derby and Burton hospitals has asked the health watchdog to remove restrictions put on its maternity services after they were rated inadequate.The Care Quality Commission (CQC) served University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Trust (UHDB) with eight Section 31 notices following inspections at the Royal Derby Hospital and Queen's Hospital Burton in 2023 and a further five in 2024.UHDB said the CQC had now removed six of the eight restrictions it received in 2023 and the trust had made applications to remove the rest.Data shows the mortality rate for newborns at both hospitals has been below the NHS average for more than 12 months.
'Working at pace'
In 2023 the CQC identified major failings in maternity services at both hospitals and ordered the trust to urgently update training, improve cleanliness and ensure safe levels of staffing.The commission utilised Section 31 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, which gives it the powers to urgently alter or remove conditions of registration.Since then the trust said it had been "working hard" to improve the quality of care and experience for women and babies through a dedicated improvement programmeIt said compliance against Saving Babies Lives, an evidence-based national maternity safety ambition had improved from 33% in September 2023 to 86% in June 2025.Sarah Noble, UHDB's director of midwifery, said: "While we know from our own safety data and from our engagement with women and families that we have made improvements, we are not complacent and are absolutely committed to continuing this work at pace."
UHDB said the Section 31 restrictions from 2023 which had now been removed by the CQC were for effective system of fetal monitoring, fetal monitoring training and compliance, fresh eyes implementation, clinical skills training compliance, rates of haemorrhage and appropriate senior support.The remaining two conditions from 2023 it has applied to have removed are assessment and management haemorrhage and audit and governance of haemorrhage.Meanwhile the five conditions still in place from 2024 are co-ordinated care approach to maternity, visible effective medical leadership, birth centre neonatal equipment accessible and effective process for handovers of care and induction of labour.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

UK warned it risks exodus of 'disillusioned' doctors
UK warned it risks exodus of 'disillusioned' doctors

Sky News

timean hour ago

  • Sky News

UK warned it risks exodus of 'disillusioned' doctors

Nearly one in five doctors is considering quitting in the UK, new figures show, while one in eight is thinking about leaving the country to work abroad. The General Medical Council (GMC), which commissioned the research, is warning that plans to cut hospital waiting lists will be at risk unless more is done to retain them. By July 2029, the prime minister has said 92% of patients needing routine hospital treatment like hip and knee replacements will be seen within 18 weeks. "[Poor staff retention] could threaten government ambitions to reduce waiting times and deliver better care to patients," warned the authors of the GMC's latest report. The main reason doctors gave for considering moving abroad was they are "treated better" in other countries, while the second most common reason was better pay. Some 43% said they had researched career opportunities in other countries, while 15% reported taking "hard steps" towards moving abroad, like applying for roles or contacting recruiters. "Like any profession, doctors who are disillusioned with their careers will start looking elsewhere," said Charlie Massey, chief executive of the GMC. "Doctors need to be satisfied, supported, and see a hopeful future for themselves, or we may risk losing their talent and expertise altogether." 3:13 The report - which comes after a recent five-day walkout by resident doctors - is based on the responses of 4,697 doctors around the UK and also explores how they feel about career progression. One in three said they are unable to progress their education, training and careers in the way they want. Those who didn't feel like their careers were progressing were at higher risk of burnout and were less satisfied with their work. The GMC blamed workloads, competition for jobs, and lack of senior support for development for adversely impacting the career progression of UK doctors. 2:51 'Legitimate complaints' The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledged doctors had suffered "more than a decade of neglect". "Doctors have legitimate complaints about their conditions, including issues with training bottlenecks and career progression," said a spokesperson. "We want to work with them to address these and improve their working lives, which includes our plans set out in the 10 Year Health Plan to prioritise UK graduates and increase speciality training posts. "This government is committed to improving career opportunities and working conditions, bringing in ways to recognise and reward talent - as well as freeing up clinicians' time by cutting red tape."

The NHS must accept the reality of sex
The NHS must accept the reality of sex

Times

timean hour ago

  • Times

The NHS must accept the reality of sex

The Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of sex in the Equality Act ought to have been the final word in a particularly ugly chapter of public discourse. Four months on from that landmark verdict, however, not enough has changed for the women who have suffered most from the capture of the public sector by gender extremism. It is time for ministers, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), to lay down the law that too many public bodies are still ignoring. Just look to Fife, whose NHS trust is still spending exorbitant sums of public money fighting an employment tribunal against a nurse, Sandie Peggie, who refused to share a female changing room with a transgender doctor. Ms Peggie, a working-class woman whose NHS career was curtailed after 30 years for standing up for the existence of biological sex, has been dragged through the mud for daring to object to a male-bodied colleague watching her deal with a menstrual flood. It was always absurd and offensive that Ms Peggie should be disciplined for expecting single-sex changing facilities. Now the law has been clarified, there should be no reason for the NHS to persist in wasting public money on tribunals brought by working women subjected to similar indignities. In Darlington, a group of nurses who similarly objected to a transgender colleague changing in their single-sex space will fight a full tribunal from October; others, including Jennifer Melle, who was racially abused by a trans-identifying male paedophile she called 'mister', have been suspended. • Trans doctor Beth Upton lamented lack of guidelines on changing rooms Enough is enough. The public sector in general and the health service in particular cannot be allowed to treat the law as optional. It is time for ministers to assert their authority. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has been admirably assertive in his dealings with the trans lobby in banning the prescription of puberty blockers to children. Now he must show the same initiative in forcing hospitals, NHS leaders and the NHS Confederation to abide by their legal obligations to female staff and patients. Mr Streeting must also ensure that the Scottish government duly falls into line. It now falls to the EHRC to state those obligations beyond reasonable doubt. The watchdog has dragged its feet on providing new guidance to ministers. It need not be difficult. The EHRC should state that trans women must not be allowed in single-sex spaces. And when it comes to women's sport, the guidance must be clear that transgender competitors cannot take part. The Supreme Court ruling has finally settled the question of what defines sex; the EHRC must now ensure it is understood and delivered across all parts of society, with statutory underpinning. • Janice Turner: Class snobbery is at heart of NHS gender war Once that guidance is submitted to ministers, it must be implemented without delay. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary and equalities minister, showed admirable courage in overruling wrong-headed Labour MPs to appoint Mary-Ann Stephenson as the next chairwoman of the commission — someone who has three decades of experience in human rights law and will lead in the vein of Baroness Falkner of Margravine. The rest of her cabinet colleagues must back Dr Stephenson too. The era in which careers could be destroyed, reputations traduced and taxpayers' money wasted denying objective reality on sex and gender should have ended with the Supreme Court ruling. It is long past time for ministers to impose their authority in the name of sanity.

Study attributes 440 'excess deaths' to January's Los Angeles wildfires
Study attributes 440 'excess deaths' to January's Los Angeles wildfires

Reuters

time2 hours ago

  • Reuters

Study attributes 440 'excess deaths' to January's Los Angeles wildfires

LOS ANGELES, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Wildfires that devastated parts of the Los Angeles area in January indirectly led to hundreds of deaths in the ensuing weeks, far exceeding the official toll of 31 fatalities, according to a study released on Wednesday. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA, estimated 440 "excess deaths" were attributable to the fires from January 5 to February 1, using models that compared predicted mortality under normal circumstances to actual numbers documented during that period. The additional deaths likely reflect a mix of factors, including increased exposure of people with heart and lung disease to poor air quality from smoke and toxins released by the fires, as well as healthcare delays and disruptions, the study said. The findings "underscore the need to complement direct fatalities estimates with alternative methods to quantify the additional mortality burden of wildfires and of climate-related emergencies more broadly," the researchers wrote. Two wind-driven wildfires that erupted during the first week of January on opposite sides of Los Angeles damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures combined - laying waste to much of the seaside district of Pacific Palisades and the foothill community of Altadena. Together, the blazes scorched 59 square miles (152 sq km), an area larger than Paris. The official tally of people who perished as a direct result of the fires stands at 31, after the most recent set of human remains were unearthed in Altadena in July, six months after the fires. Governor Gavin Newsom in February requested nearly $40 billion in wildfire aid from Congress. Some estimates put economic losses from the fires at more than $250 billion, making the conflagration one of the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history. The JAMA study acknowledged some limitations, saying the data may need to be revised upward in the future and the research did not reflect any fire-attributable deaths beyond Feb. 1.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store