York and Scarborough maternity services need £736,000 to meet NHS standards
The NHS trust that runs York and Scarborough hospitals needs an estimated £736,000 to meet new national maternity and neonatal care requirements being introduced across England.
Delivery of the required maternity and neonatal improvements at the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by March 2027 is currently “at risk”, health bosses have said, citing workforce pressures, funding challenges and the scale of changes required.
NHS England recently introduced a Maternity and Neonatal 10 Point Plan, alongside new requirements including the Maternal Care Bundle and maternity triage standards published for services across England in June this year.
The new requirements were introduced following a series of national reviews into maternity and neonatal care across England.
The £736,000 investment would support implementation of a series of measures introduced nationally following independent reviews of maternity care.
Director of Midwifery, Sascha Wells-Munro, said: “Improving maternity and neonatal safety is a national priority, and all NHS trusts providing these services are being asked to implement further improvements following recent independent reviews of maternity care.”
According to the board report, compliance with some maternity triage standards currently stands at 58.7 per cent, with further work needed to meet new national requirements.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The estimated £736,000 identified in our Board report reflects the additional investment we have assessed is needed to meet these national requirements.”
“We are reviewing our current arrangements and developing plans to address the areas where further work is required.”
The report states that full delivery of the improvements by March 2027 remains at risk and identifies workforce and financial pressures as key challenges.
However, the trust said work to improve services had already begun.
Ms Wells-Munro said: “We have already been working to strengthen maternity triage and assessment across our hospital sites, alongside our continued focus on safe staffing.”
The trust said it would continue working with women and families as part of the improvement programme through its Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships.
Seeking to reassure patients, Ms Wells-Munro pointed to recent inspections by the Care Quality Commission.
She said: “While we recognise there is more to do, families can take reassurance from our recent Care Quality Commission inspections, which rated maternity services at both York and Scarborough hospitals as good across all areas assessed.”
She added that the trust remained committed to meeting all national standards.
“Our priority remains providing safe, compassionate and high-quality care for women, babies and families, and we are committed to meeting the national standards for the services we are commissioned to provide by our Integrated Care Board.”