Poor maternity care putting lives at risk, warns NHS watchdog

Lives of mothers and babies are being put at risk by poor standards of maternity care, the head of the NHS inspectorate said yesterday.

Sir Ian Kennedy, the chairman of the Healthcare Commission, highlighted concerns about safety and quality of services in hospital baby units in England and Wales as he prepared to give his annual report to parliament today.

All trusts will have to review their standards in maternity units in an attempt to end huge discrepancies in care, following the commission's devastating verdict on their performance.

High death rates in some units are only part of the story. Other failures include doctors and midwives having no time to explain what is happening to patients; lack of advice on feeding, bathing, settling and health of babies or mothers; overcrowding; poor cleanliness in toilets and bathrooms; delays caused by faulty equipment; and lack of information to bereaved families or those with language problems.

Sir Ian is worried that complaints that sparked three investigations by the commission at three maternity units in two years are symptomatic of wider problems. Complete data exists on only 72% of births in 2003-04, raising questions about trusts' assessment of their maternity units.

Sir Ian said yesterday: "Giving birth is probably safer now, in overall terms, than it ever was and there are lots of examples of good practice. However, this is an area where the consequences of things going wrong are very great. And there is growing evidence that in some places maternity services are not as good or as safe as they should be."

Earlier this year the Department of Health sent in outside experts to run services at Northwick Park, in north-west London, after 10 mothers died in three years. Other investigations were launched at New Cross hospital, Wolverhampton, and Ashford and St Peter's hospital, in Chertsey, Surrey.

The results of these inquiries suggest there are problems with weak risk management; poor reporting of incidents and handling of complaints; inadequate training and poor supervision of staff; and staff shortages.

New measures will include maternity checks that will play a far more important part in the rating of hospitals' overall performance each year, and a survey of users.

There are about 650,000 births annually in the UK, and one in every 8,800 pregnancies results in the mother dying up to six weeks after giving birth.

The health minister Liam Byrne recognised "circumstances are not yet good enough". The government was reforming and investing in maternity services.

Andrew Lansley, for the Conservatives, said the findings were "deeply worrying".