Source · CQC inspection

Croydon University Hospital

Provider Croydon Health Services NHS Trust Type NHS Healthcare Organisation Region London Last inspected 10 Apr 2026

Overall rating: Requires Improvement  View full CQC report

Domain ratings

Five CQC key questions
Safe
Requires Improvement
Effective
Requires Improvement
Caring
Good
Responsive
Good
Well-led
Requires Improvement

Current CQC assessment

Single Assessment Framework

From 2024 CQC rates services through ongoing assessments rather than comprehensive inspections.

Requires Improvement Assessed 10 April 2026
The service is not performing as well as it should and we have told the service how it must improve.
Date of assessment: 30 September to 01 October 2025. Croydon University Hospital is part of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust and provides a range of NHS hospital services to people living in Croydon and Southwest London. This assessment looked at maternity services following receipt of information of concern. We last assessed the service in December 2022 and rated it good. The maternity rating has been combined with the ratings of the other services from their last assessments. Refer to our previous reports for a comprehensive overview of all the other …

Ratings by service

Maternity
Requires Improvement
Jul 2025
Medical care (Including older people's care)
Requires Improvement
Feb 2025
Medical care (Including older people's care)
Requires Improvement
Feb 2025
Urgent and emergency services
Requires Improvement
Feb 2025
Urgent and emergency services
Requires Improvement
Feb 2025

Regulatory breaches & enforcement

Current-framework "must do" equivalent

Breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, stated verbatim in the CQC assessment.

Warning notice Overall
Following our assessment, we issued a warning notice under section 29A of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 on the registration of maternity services at Croydon University Hospital.
· 10 Apr 2026 · CQC source

Breaches identified (6)

Breach Safe
We rated the service as requires improvement due to new breaches of safe care and treatment, leadership and good governance.
Regulation: Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) · 10 Apr 2026
Breach Overall
Whilst the service had improved in a number of places since the last assessment at this assessment we still found breaches of legal regulations.
· 16 Jul 2025
Breach Safe
We found new breaches of regulation in relation to safeguarding and Mental Capacity Act, safe care and treatment and privacy and dignity.
Regulation: Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) · 16 Jul 2025
Breach Overall
Improvements in governance were not found the service remained in breach of regulation.
· 16 Jul 2025
Breach Safe
We found eight breaches of the legal regulations in relation safe care and treatment, consent, premises and equipment, medicines management and good governance as well as staffing at this assessment.
Regulation: Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) · 16 Jul 2025
Breach Well-led
At the last assessment the service was in breach of regulation relating to good governance and this was a continued breach at this assessment.
Regulation: Regulation 17 (Good governance) · 16 Jul 2025

Earlier inspection findings

pre-2024 framework · 8 should-do

Should-do actions (8)

Recommended improvements to enhance service quality.

Should-do action 1 of 8
Should do
Safe
The trust should ensure that staff have completed the GAP and GROW training.
Should-do action 2 of 8
Should do
Safe
The trust should ensure equipment including emergency equipment are regularly maintained and checked in line with trust policy.
Should-do action 3 of 8
Should do
Safe
The trust should ensure medicines are stored and managed appropriately, and medicines fridge temperatures were monitored and recorded in line with the trust requirements.
Should-do action 4 of 8
Should do
Well-led
The trust should continue to address the high vacancy and turnover rates in maternity staffing.
Should-do action 5 of 8
Should do
Well-led
The trust should ensure staff receive an annual appraisal.
Should-do action 6 of 8
Should do
Well-led
The trust should review the number of student midwives in the maternity service and ensure there were no delays in the completion of student midwives’ proficiencies.
Should-do action 7 of 8
Should do
Well-led
The trust should ensure policies, guidelines and procedures are reviewed and follow national guidance.
Should-do action 8 of 8
Should do
Safe
The trust should ensure an environmental risk assessment is carried in all maternity areas and emergency call bells are ligature free.

Location details

CQC ID: RJ611
Local authority: Croydon
Region: London

Inspection report

Type: Location
Date: 22 February 2023
Rating: Requires Improvement
Actions: 8 should-do
AI-extracted 3 Jun 2026