The Healthcare Commission has announced that Newham University NHS Trust has made substantial improvements to its maternity services, with more beds, more staff and better management of risk. The Commission published a report detailing progress at the Trust since it conducted a formal review of the services in 2007. The review was conducted at the request of the Trust, after almost 800 women were not booked for antenatal care appointments in late 2006 and early 2007, despite being referred for this service.
However, the Commission said the Trust still needed to appoint a permanent clinical director and must work on ensuring its improvements to processes and governance is permanent and long-term.
Nigel Ellis, the Commission's Head of Investigations said: "We're pleased that Newham University NHS Trust has made good progress to address issues with its maternity services by increasing staff and bed numbers, employing new and better incident reporting techniques and making improving its maternity services a top priority. The Trust now needs to make sure these improvements are thoroughly embedded and maternity services remain a top priority."
