Portsmouth maternity units downgraded as staffing pressures restrict birth choices

Maternity services at three hospitals run by Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have been downgraded after inspectors found staffing shortages, delayed inductions and unresolved safeguarding concerns.

The Care Quality Commission rated maternity care at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Saint Mary’s Community Health Campus and Gosport War Memorial Hospital as requiring improvement following inspections in March.

Safety, responsiveness and leadership were downgraded from good to requires improvement at all three locations. The services remained rated good for effectiveness and caring, with inspectors hearing consistently positive accounts of compassionate and respectful frontline care.

However, the CQC found that the systems supporting staff had deteriorated and identified five regulatory breaches. These covered safe care and treatment, staffing, safeguarding, person-centred care and service management.

At Queen Alexandra Hospital, 17 women waited more than six hours for labour induction during March 2026, but managers did not treat every delay as an incident. A further 17 women were transferred to other hospitals because of delays and pressure on the service.

Inspectors said workforce availability sometimes overrode women’s choices about where to give birth. Doctors did not always review the highest-risk women within four hours, while only 29% had completed the required safeguarding training.

Concerns were also raised about poor behaviour among some senior labour ward staff. Some newer midwives said they did not feel able to raise concerns or ask those colleagues for assistance.

At Saint Mary’s, a woman in active labour was transferred by ambulance to the main hospital because insufficient staff were available at her chosen birth centre. Inspectors also found missed safety checks on newborn resuscitation equipment and unlocked access to areas containing electrical cabling and pipework.

At Gosport, 25 women who requested to use the birth centre were turned away during an 18-month period because staff were unavailable. Managers also lacked clear oversight of performance information, while several daily checks of emergency birth equipment had been missed.

Catherine Campbell, CQC deputy director of hospitals for the South West, said women continued to describe feeling safe, supported and involved in their care. However, she said the underlying systems were “not keeping pace” with the kindness shown by staff.

The trust has been instructed to submit an action plan explaining how it will make immediate improvements. The regulator said it must address staffing and governance failures so that safe maternity care does not depend on individual staff overcoming weaknesses in the wider service.

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