Bedford Hospital

⚠ Poor mandatory training compliance; not all staff had completed safeguarding training to the required levels.

⚠ Poor infection control and prevention practice; the service did not control all infection risks well; processes in place to prevent and control infection were not consistently adhered to.

⚠ Inconsistencies in the monitoring of equipment for ensuring safe use; equipment was not always looked after well; processes in place to ensure emergency equipment was checked daily were not always adhered to by staff.

⚠ Reduced nurse staffing levels; gaps in the provision of a qualified children’s registered nurse in the department; the service did not always have enough staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep patients safe.

⚠ Staff appraisal rates were lower than the Trust target; not all staff had received an appraisal.

⚠ Delays in obtaining pressure relieving mattresses in busy periods and pressure relieving cushions were not readily available.

⚠ Actions taken by the service to mitigate identified risks were not always updated regularly on the risk register.

⚠ Midwifery staff had not received the required training and competency assessments to undertake ‘scrub’ or recovery duties.

⚠ Less than half of the maternity staff had attended a multidisciplinary ‘skills and drills’ training session.

⚠ There was no evidence of carbon monoxide monitoring in patient records, which is not in line with national recommendations.

⚠ The processes in place to ensure emergency equipment was checked daily were not always adhered to by staff.

⚠ Overnight staffing levels on the maternity ward were not always suitable for the level of care women and babies often required.