Morecambe Bay maternity services leave national safety support scheme

Maternity and neonatal services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust have left a national intensive support programme following sustained improvements in safety and care.

The trust joined the Maternity Safety Support Programme in 2021 after the Care Quality Commission rated its maternity services inadequate. NHS England has now confirmed it has met the requirements to return to routine regional oversight following a review involving regulators, commissioners and patient representatives.

Maternity services across the trust’s three sites are now rated good by the CQC for the first time since 2019. The trust has also reduced maternity vacancies by 50% and says it ranks fourth nationally for patient experience.

Other changes include stronger leadership and governance, a dedicated maternity triage service, improved investigation of safety incidents and a specialist perinatal learning team. The trust has also reported 100% compliance with its Duty of Candour responsibilities.

Susan Foyle, director of midwifery, said the achievement should be recognised while ensuring that families who previously experienced harm and loss were not forgotten.

She added that their experiences had shaped many of the improvements and continued to drive the trust’s commitment to safe and compassionate care. Further work will be overseen regionally, including action arising from Baroness Amos’s national investigation into maternity and neonatal services.

Stay informed with the stories shaping health and social care.