HEREFORD County Hospital's maternity ward has been recognised by Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors who said staff were delivering a "good" service - but more improvements still need to be made at the department to make sure mothers and babies are safe.

The CQC visited Hereford County Hospital for a focused inspection on maternity services and found that the unit, run by the Wye Valley trust, had improved.

The report, published today (Wednesday, October 4), said that the maternity services at the hospital had improved from "requires improvement" to "good". 

It praised the staff who the inspectors described as working "incredibly hard" to deliver a high standard of care to those using their services, but maintained that improvements still needed to be made to safety. Daily checks of equipment didn't always take place and staff training was lacking in some areas.

The CQC's deputy director of secondary and specialist care Carolyn Jenkinson, who oversaw the inspection of the maternity ward, reported: "Not all staff had training in key skills or had been trained in identifying abuse risks to women and birthing people. Leaders had not fully assessed the risks associated with the care for women and birthing people who were acutely ill and required enhanced care."

However, the overall rating was improved as the inspectors found areas of the service that were better than they had been previously.

"Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff in developing their skills. Staff understood the vision, and how to apply them in their work. Managers were focused on the needs of women and birthing people. People could access the service when they needed it. Staff were committed to improving services continually," the report said.

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Amie Symes, the trust's associate director of midwifery, said: "We're delighted to receive the CQC report which highlights an overall rating improvement to "good" in how well-led the service is. We're incredibly proud of these improvements, a testament to the team's hard work and commitment to the service."

She added that by working with and listening to service users, the team were working to develop the kind of services local people wanted.

"The implementation of local and national recommendations has facilitated improvements to provision. We are making good progress towards our improvement objectives," she said.

Jane Ives, the trust's managing director, said: "Our excellent maternity team deserves this recognition. They have worked very hard to improve the service to women and families."

The overall rating for Hereford County Hospital is "requires improvement".