Inspectors lift hospital warning

The Care Quality Commission said it found steps had been taken to improve staffing in maternity services at Dewsbury and District Hospital during a snap inspection a fortnight ago.

This came in the wake of the warning it issued in February pointing to concerns over patient safety being jeopardised due to high levels of staff absence.

Further improvements had also been made to procedures monitoring the quality of services being provided, it said.

Stephen Eames, interim chief executive at the Mid-Yorkshire trust which runs the hospital, said: “We made a promise to parents-to-be and local people that we’d address the areas that needed improving - and that’s what we’ve done.

“Our teams quickly acted with targeted action and can now better respond to high levels of demand in the service. All staff are aware of the processes that are in place to address any short staffing issues.”

In its latest visit, inspectors confirmed there were enough qualified and experienced staff to meet people’s needs but they also identified some areas for improvement in communications with patients.

Chief nurse Tracey McErlain-Burns said: “We will make the further changes necessary and are already implementing plans to improve communications with and about our patients.”