Gloucestershire maternity failures exposed in 'devastating' national report as NHS trust apologises
Summary
Gloucestershire mums have spoken of feeling “dismissed” and discriminated against due to maternity failures during pregnancy and birth. A “devastating” report has laid bare the extreme staffing pressures at maternity units in Gloucestershire, as part of a landmark national investigation into maternity services published last week.
Details
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , which offers maternity and neonatal services at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, Stroud Maternity Unit and Cheltenham General Hospital (currently closed), was among 12 trusts investigated across the country.
During their visit over two days in December last year, as part of the Baroness Amos-led Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, the investigation team spoke to families and staff there to understand their experience. Staff consistently described services being under sustained pressure, with demand and complexity increasing faster than their capacity and resources.
And most of the families who took part in the investigation’s panels said they experienced harm and many had experienced bereavement, the report says. Their experiences speak to the lasting impact of harm and grief on their lives and the lives of their loved ones, according to the report.
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“We were repeatedly told by women and families that they were not listened to when they raised concerns, even when those concerns related to changes in their body, their baby’s movements, or symptoms that felt urgent or frightening,” the report reads.
“Many women said they felt a strong sense that ‘something wasn’t right’ but were dismissed or their concerns were minimised, leaving families feeling powerless, anxious and unsafe, particularly at moments when they were most vulnerable.” Last year a council meeting heard there could have been “missed opportunities” at the trust to potentially prevent the deaths of nine newborn babies in recent years.
The new report says women and families described long waits, uncertainty about when care would happen and delays in being seen, transferred or discharged, sometimes while in established labour or experiencing complications.
And some women also felt that decisions about their care were being shaped by a lack of space rather than by clinical need or personal choice, including being moved between areas, asked to leave rooms soon after birth, or being unable to continue with planned care.
Report source: Gloucestershire Live