Hospital's maternity rating 'atrocious', says MP

An MP says it is "atrocious" and "incredibly concerning" that maternity care at a hospital in her constituency had been rated "inadequate".

Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, was downgraded after an inspection in March by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), but the result was only released this week.

A follow-up CQC inspection in July found steps had been taken to improve safety, and hospital bosses said the service provided "high-quality, safe maternity care".

Chelmsford's Liberal Democrat MP Marie Goldman told the BBC: "There are some elements in the report that are incredibly concerning; it's not just one thing that's gone wrong - it's lots of things."

During the initial inspection in March, the CQC raised concerns about triage times and the capacity to support women, people using the service, and their babies.

Inspectors found staff did not always have the time to complete incident reports, which were often completed retrospectively by leaders.

They also noticed incorrect storage of medication and milk products.

The trust subsequently submitted an action plan, setting out immediate steps to improve.

It is not yet known whether the overall rating of "inadequate" will be affected by July's inspection - as the report is yet to be released.

Ms Goldman said the situation was "not acceptable".

She said: "These services are looking after women and babies at their most vulnerable. It's atrocious. How did they let it get to that state in the first place?"

She said it was not down to a lack of hard work by staff, but "it sounds a lot like we're not getting proper oversight from leadership, not putting in proper procedures".

"This is 2025, we really should know by now how to do this stuff. We shouldn't be reinventing the wheel, we should be looking at best-practice," she said.

Ms Goldman planned to have "an urgent meeting with Broomfield Hospital" and also to write to the Labour government.

Rob Assall, CQC director of operations in the East of England, said steps had been taken at Broomfield between March and July to improve safety, including a telephone triage line and Caesarean section waiting room area.

"We've worked with the trust in the months since our initial inspection and will continue to monitor closely to ensure that improvements are being embedded," he said.

"If we do not find that these improvements are sustained, we will take action to ensure that mothers and babies are getting the high-quality care they deserve."

Matthew Hopkins, chief executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said: "We have made significant improvements to our maternity service and acted on the feedback from inspectors immediately when they visited in March 2024."

He said it was "hugely disappointing" that the service was downgraded but "also disappointing" that the trust was still waiting for the CQC's report from its July inspection.

The CQC apologised for the delay, saying that a large-scale transformation programme meant the report had not been published as quickly as it should have been.

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