‘Compassionate care’ as inspectors deliver report on Victoria Hospital maternity services
Inspectors have delivered their assessment of maternity services after an unannounced visit to Victoria Hospital.
A team from Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) spent two days at the department in December - and liked much of what it saw, praising the “compassionate, responsive care” given to women and their families.
The report found ten areas of good practice, made two recommendations and issued 13 requirements.
A requirement means the hospital or service has not met the required standards and the inspection team is concerned about the impact this has on patients.
Donna Maclean, chief inspector said: “We saw staff providing compassionate and responsive care to women and their families. Women and families whom we spoke with were complimentary of the care they received and would recommend NHS Fife maternity services to family and friends. Senior obstetricians and senior midwifery staff were visible, and clinically active working with the multidisciplinary team to provide person-centred care to women and their families.
“Staff, newly qualified practitioners and students described respectful working relationships with senior managers and the wider team and felt well supported and able to raise concerns, with respectful and supportive interactions between the teams observed.”
Areas for improvement included development within the maternity triage department to support the continued improvement of patient safety and communication, as well as a dedicated midwife for telephone triage.
Other areas for improvement identified included ensuring staff have time for mandatory training and protected time for clinical leaders to fulfil their leadership roles and to ensure timescales of incident reviews and significant adverse event reviews are achieved. An assurance of fire safety requirements was also required.
Eddie Docherty, director of quality assurance and regulation, said: “ The maternity inspections provide women, and families with an assessment of the quality of care provided by their local maternity service and an independent review of any required improvements.”
An improvement action plan has been developed by NHS Fife to meet the requirements identified.
Gillian McAuley, NHS Fife Director of Nursing, welcomed the report, and added: “We are proud of the dedication and compassion shown by our maternity teams.
“A comprehensive action plan has been developed to support sustained quality improvement within maternity services at Victoria Hospital. Work to address the identified improvement areas is already underway, reflecting our continued commitment to delivering the highest standards of care for women, babies and families across Fife.”