ummbilal
25-01-08, 05:38 PM
Maternity services criticised by watchdog
Published: Friday, 25 January 2008, 7:45AM
Women and their new babies are being failed by poor maternity care, a report has warned.
The Healthcare Commission said a fifth of NHS Trusts are failing to deliver an acceptable level of care.
The report also found ultrasound scans are not being properly checked for abnormalities in unborn babies.
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommend 11 checks to be performed during ultrasound scans.
These include studying the baby's heart function, length of spine, counting bones in the arms and legs and looking at head shape and size.
The scans should also examine the development of the baby's face and lips.
But the Healthcare Commission found that just 61 per cent of scans performed by trusts included all 11 checks.
Nice also raised the quality requirements for Down's Syndrome screening in April 2007, but only 11 per cent of Trusts reported meeting these standards for all women.
This means those women in the remainder of cases are receiving inferior screening, according to the Commission.
A shortage of midwives is being blamed on the shortcomings.
On average, units have 31 midwives per 1,000 deliveries but nine trusts trusts had only 26 midwives per 1,000 deliveries or fewer.
Two thirds of these trusts were scored weak in the review, suggesting very low staffing levels may be associated with poor overall performance, according to the report.
The Royal Colleges recommend 36 midwives per 1,000 deliveries to enable one to one care in labour.
A total of 68 per cent of trusts were meeting a guideline set by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists requiring consultants to be present on the labour ward for at least 40 hours per week.
However, 32 per cent were not yet meeting the guideline, according to the study.
How is your NHS trust rated?
http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Maternity-services-criticised-by-watchdog.html
to see how you local hospital is rated, check the link.
Published: Friday, 25 January 2008, 7:45AM
Women and their new babies are being failed by poor maternity care, a report has warned.
The Healthcare Commission said a fifth of NHS Trusts are failing to deliver an acceptable level of care.
The report also found ultrasound scans are not being properly checked for abnormalities in unborn babies.
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommend 11 checks to be performed during ultrasound scans.
These include studying the baby's heart function, length of spine, counting bones in the arms and legs and looking at head shape and size.
The scans should also examine the development of the baby's face and lips.
But the Healthcare Commission found that just 61 per cent of scans performed by trusts included all 11 checks.
Nice also raised the quality requirements for Down's Syndrome screening in April 2007, but only 11 per cent of Trusts reported meeting these standards for all women.
This means those women in the remainder of cases are receiving inferior screening, according to the Commission.
A shortage of midwives is being blamed on the shortcomings.
On average, units have 31 midwives per 1,000 deliveries but nine trusts trusts had only 26 midwives per 1,000 deliveries or fewer.
Two thirds of these trusts were scored weak in the review, suggesting very low staffing levels may be associated with poor overall performance, according to the report.
The Royal Colleges recommend 36 midwives per 1,000 deliveries to enable one to one care in labour.
A total of 68 per cent of trusts were meeting a guideline set by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists requiring consultants to be present on the labour ward for at least 40 hours per week.
However, 32 per cent were not yet meeting the guideline, according to the study.
How is your NHS trust rated?
http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Maternity-services-criticised-by-watchdog.html
to see how you local hospital is rated, check the link.