1 November 2016
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We inspected Bridgnorth Midwife Led Unit (MLU) as part of a focussed inspection of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in November and December 2016. We visited the MLU unannounced on 1 November 2016.
We rated Bridgnorth Midwife Led Unit as good overall.
- There were systems in place to ensure the service was meeting the individual needs for women using the service. We found the service to be very responsive to the requirements of women using the service at all stages of the patient journey.
- The service provided a range of choices for women during labour, which included pain relief and hypnobirthing. Women told us they felt involved with decisions in their care and we saw women were supported emotionally throughout their pregnancy, birth and postnatally.
- We saw that staff were following good practice with infection prevention and control, the unit was clean and there had been no incidents of infections such as MRSA or CDiff during the reporting period.
- Staff were all aware of how to report incidents and were encouraged to do so. We saw that staff had opportunities to learn from incidents across the trust and that incidents were investigated appropriately.
- We saw that robust clinical governance and risk management arrangements were in place.
- Women and the family members we spoke with described positive care experiences. The results of the friends and family tests showed that over 97% of women who participated would recommend the service to their friends and family.
- Staff had access to and followed policies and procedures that were based on national guidance.
- The MLU was accredited with the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI). We saw that the unit promoted breastfeeding and the important health benefits of this for mother and baby.
- We saw that there were good systems in place to ensure good working relationships with other teams within the trust and with external organisations.
- We saw a positive culture within the MLU with strong leadership. Staff and women using the service were encouraged to provide feedback into how improvements could be made.
However:
- The MLU had experienced closure due to staff being required to support the consultant unit.
We saw areas of outstanding practice including:
- Staff at the MLU had participated in hypnobirthing training to provide women with further choice during their labour. However, there were also areas of poor practice where the trust needs to make improvements.
Professor Sir Mike Richards
Chief Inspector of Hospitals