Maternity services at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary have officially exited national special measures and support programmes following major improvements.
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) say they are no longer receiving support from the national Maternity and Neonatal Intensive Support Team (MatNeoIST) following sustained improvements across its maternity and neonatal services.
UHMBT entered the national Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) in 2021 following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection which rated the Trust’s maternity services as ‘Inadequate’.
The MSSP subsequently evolved into the MatNeoIST, providing intensive support and oversight to maternity and neonatal services across England.
Following a comprehensive review involving a range of stakeholders such as the CQC, Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP), Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, NHS England has confirmed that UHMBT has met the requirements to leave the programme.
The Trust said that over the past five years, colleagues across maternity and neonatal services, supported by teams from throughout the wider organisation, have delivered a substantial and sustainable programme of improvement focused on providing safer, more effective and compassionate care.
UHMBT has strengthened its leadership structure with the appointment of a Director of Midwifery, Heads of Midwifery, a Consultant Midwife and dedicated governance leadership roles, helping to embed a culture of continuous improvement and accountability.
Working closely with the MNVP, service users have helped shape and influence improvements to services, including the development of the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) Willow (bereavement) Suite, improvements to patient information and engagement processes.
The MatNeoIST review team highlighted sustained improvements in leadership, governance, workforce development, quality assurance, patient safety systems and engagement with service users, concluding that strong foundations are now in place to support continued improvement under routine regional oversight arrangements.
The Trust has already begun implementing the recommendations arising from Baroness Amos’ Independent Investigation into Maternity and Neonatal Services in England. A local maternity improvement action plan, aligned to NHS England's national 10 Point Plan, has been approved by the Trust Board and includes further work to strengthen leadership accountability, workforce culture, patient safety systems, maternity triage, learning from incidents, reducing health inequalities and ensuring the voices of women and families continue to shape services.
Susan Foyle, Director of Midwifery, UHMBT, said: “While we should recognise this achievement, we must never lose sight of the families who experienced harm and loss in the past.
‘’Their bravery and experiences have shaped many of the improvements we have made, and they continue to drive our commitment to provide safe, compassionate and high-quality care.
“I would like to thank all colleagues, our service users, our Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership representatives, NHS England and our partners for supporting us throughout this journey. We know there is still more work to do, and we remain absolutely focused on providing the safest and highest quality care possible.”
Anna Telfer, Chief Nursing Officer, UHMBT, said: “This is a significant milestone for our maternity and neonatal services and reflects the tremendous commitment, professionalism and determination shown by colleagues over many years.
“We have strengthened leadership, governance and patient safety arrangements, reduced workforce vacancies, improved staff support and ensured that women and families are much more closely involved in shaping services.
‘’Achieving a Good CQC rating across all maternity sites and being ranked among the top organisations nationally for patient experience are important indicators of the progress made.
‘’There is much more work to do to further improve and ensure the changes are embedded for many years to come, but this milestone shows we are heading in the right direction.”
Dr Helen Skinner, Chief Medical Officer at UHMBT, said: “This transition to routine regional oversight reflects the significant progress that has been achieved through strong collaborative working across maternity, neonatal, obstetric and corporate teams.
"Our clinicians are working more closely together than ever before to ensure women and babies receive safe and effective care.
"The next phase of our work, including implementation of the national recommendations set out by Baroness Amos, will focus on sustaining improvement and striving for outstanding services.”
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