'Not surprised at all': Patients recall experiences with Queen Alexandra Hospital maternity service after CQC downgrade
Inspectors found that 'care had deteriorated’
Previous patients of Queen Alexandra Hospital have shared their experiences of maternity care after the CQC downgraded the hospital’s service to “requires improvement”.
The CQC also downgraded birth centres at St Mary's Community Health Campus and Gosport War Memorial Hospital.
Inspectors found that “care had deteriorated and the service was now in breach of five regulations,” including issues around staffing, safeguarding and person-centred care.
Emily recalled her heart-breaking experience with the maternity services at QA hospital. She said: “When I attended QA Hospital twice over the same weekend because I was experiencing reduced movements, there was important checks that were missed. On both occasions, my blood pressure and urine should have been checked, but they were not.
“I also should have been referred for an ultrasound scan following my repeated concerns about reduced movements. I was not sent for a scan, and I was later told that my attendances had not been properly documented.
“This is particularly difficult for me to process because my son, Austin, was stillborn just a few weeks later after becoming incredibly poorly.
“I will never know whether earlier recognition or further investigation would have changed the outcome. But I do know that I went to maternity services twice because I was worried about my baby’s movements, and I expected those concerns to be properly assessed and documented.
“For me, this is not about blaming individual staff members. It is about understanding what happened, identifying where care may have fallen short, and making sure that other mothers who attend with reduced movements are listened to, properly assessed and have their concerns taken seriously.” Emily has since set up the support group Austin’s Angels to support other women in Portsmouth who have experienced stillbirth.
Another woman said that while at QA, she “ developed a temperature during labour, which wasn't looked into.
“I had developed sepsis which also passed to the baby. Luckily we were both ok after a few days in hospital.”
One mother said she was “not surprised at all” that the service was downgraded. “I was basically stuck in a bed post c-section with barely any staff checking on me. I was made to walk down to the NICU to see my son one day post-partum because they had no wheelchairs or any available staff to even wheel me down,” she said.
“I had a blood test 18 weeks pregnant and never got the results until I was in labour and was told my iron was extremely low , and still wasn’t given any medication,” said another previous QA patient.
However, others were quick to praise the hospital for their treatment.
“I had the best experience ever, my midwives really looked after me and was constantly checked over before and after,” said one woman.
Another noted that: “The staff know how to do their jobs but understaffing prevents them giving the high standard of care to which they aspire.”
One new mother said it was “sad” that the maternity services were downgraded. She said: “I gave birth in July and genuinely couldn't fault the care my baby or I received. You could tell that staffing was an issue though as everyone was very busy.
“It's a very busy service that covers a wide area and it must be difficult for the staff to do everything they need to.”
Catherine Campbell, CQC deputy director of hospitals, secondary and specialist care for the South-West, said: “While women's day-to-day experiences of kindness often remained strong, the systems underpinning those experiences weren't keeping pace.
“Staffing shortages and operational pressures were having a significant impact on women's care and the choices available to them. At Queen Alexandra Hospital, this meant women's choices about place of birth were sometimes overridden by workforce availability rather than clinical need, and we found delays of over 6 hours for some women waiting to start an induction of labour.
“The trust now needs to address these staffing and governance issues so that every woman's experience is consistently safe, not just consistently kind.”