Source · CQC inspection

Blackpool Victoria Hospital

Provider Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Type NHS Healthcare Organisation Region North West Last inspected 29 Aug 2025

Overall rating: Inadequate View full CQC report

Domain ratings

Five CQC key questions

Safe

Inadequate

Effective

Requires Improvement

Caring

Good

Responsive

Inadequate

Well-led

Requires Improvement

Current CQC assessment

Single Assessment Framework

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

Inadequate Assessed 29 August 2025

The service is performing badly and we've taken action against the person or organisation that runs it.

Blackpool Victoria Hospital provides a range of NHS hospital services. This assessment looked at the maternity service. We conducted this unannounced focused assessment on 18 and 19 March 2025 as a follow-up of the requires improvement rating and Section 31 letter of intent issued in 2022. We assessed 28 quality statements across the safe, effective, responsive and well-led key questions. We did not assess the caring key question during this assessment. The rating is based on the previous rating for this key question.We rated the maternity service as requires improvement. …

Ratings by service

Maternity

Requires Improvement

Dec 2024

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.

Letter of intent Overall

We conducted this unannounced focused assessment on 18 and 19 March 2025 as a follow-up of the requires improvement rating and Section 31 letter of intent issued in 2022.

· 29 Aug 2025 · CQC source

Letter of intent Overall

We conducted this unannounced focused assessment on 18 and 19 March 2025 as a follow-up of the requires improvement rating and Section 31 letter of intent.

· 29 Aug 2025 · CQC source

Urgent enforcement Overall

This meant we did not need to take urgent enforcement action.

· 29 Aug 2025 · CQC source

Earlier inspection findings

pre-2024 framework · 10 must-do 3 should-do

Must-do actions (10)

Legal requirements based on regulation breaches identified during inspection.

Must-do action 1 of 10

Must do

Safe

The service must ensure that there are sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experiences persons, to include resuscitation and safeguarding training.

Regulation: Regulation 18(1)

⚠ The service did not always ensure staff received mandatory training in key skills, including safeguarding and resuscitation, and leaders did not always ensure everyone completed it. The service did not have enough maternity staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep women safe from avoidable harm and …

Must-do action 2 of 10

Must do

Effective

The service must ensure that persons employed receive appropriate support, training, professional development, supervisions and appraisals to carry out the duties they are employed to perform. The trust must ensure there is sufficient capacity for clinical supervision to be delivered effectively by utilising the PMA roles or equivalent (Regulation 18(2)(a)).

Regulation: Regulation 18(2)(a)

⚠ The service did not always make sure staff were competent for their roles. Managers did not always appraise staff’s work performance and did not always hold supervision meetings with them to provide support and development. Managers could not always demonstrate that staff were experienced, qualified and had the right skills …

Must-do action 3 of 10

Must do

Safe

The service must ensure that they suitably assess and communicate the risks to the health and safety of service users receiving care and treatment and do all that is reasonably practicable to mitigate any such risk.

Regulation: Regulation 12(1) and (2)(a) and (b)

⚠ Staff did not always complete and update risk assessments for each woman and did not always take action to remove or minimise risks. There were ineffective processes to manage and mitigate the risks in relation to the lack of enough suitably qualified midwifery staff to care for women. Leaders did …

Must-do action 4 of 10

Must do

Safe

The service must ensure that the premises used by the service are safe for their intended purpose and used in a safe way

Regulation: Regulation 12(2)(d)

⚠ The design, maintenance and use of facilities, premises and equipment did not always keep people safe. The bereavement room was unsuitable and the shower area contained a broken shower and door that was unsafe for use.

Must-do action 5 of 10

Must do

Safe

The service must ensure that the equipment used by the service for providing care and treatment is safe for use

Regulation: Regulation 12(2)(e)

⚠ There was insufficient process to ensure staff had access to in date and safely checked equipment which exposed women and babies to a potential risk of harm. We observed out of date equipment within all the areas of maternity services. Electrical equipment tests were not always monitored and managed effectively. …

Must-do action 6 of 10

Must do

Safe

The service must ensure there is proper and safe management of medicines to include the storage of medicines and safe disposal of medicines no longer required

Regulation: Regulation 12(2)(g)

⚠ The service did not always use systems and processes to safely prescribe, administer and store medicines. There was a lack of robust systems and processes to safely store medicines within maternity services which could expose women and babies to the risk of harm. Staff did not always store and manage …

Must-do action 7 of 10

Must do

Safe

The service must ensure that they assess the risk of, and prevent, detect and control the spread of, infections, including those that are healthcare associated. This must include ensuring appropriate cleaning schedules and cleaning is undertaken

Regulation: Regulation 12(2)(h)

⚠ The service did not always control infection risk well. Staff did not always use equipment and control measures to protect women, themselves and others from infection. They did not always keep equipment and the premises visibly clean. There were insufficient processes in place to assess the risk and control the …

Must-do action 8 of 10

Must do

Effective

The service must ensure the care and treatment of service users must be appropriate, meet women and babies needs and reflect women’s preferences, including to support women and babies with breastfeeding and ensuring available access to expressed milk.

Regulation: Regulation 9(1)

⚠ Staff did not always support women with infant feeding and hydration techniques when necessary. The service did not always provide enough support to mothers wanting to breastfeed their babies, and there was no area on ward D where expressed breast milk could be stored or breast pumps located.

Must-do action 9 of 10

Must do

Well-led

The service must ensure that they assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided in carrying on of the regulated activity

Regulation: Regulation 17(2)(a)

⚠ The service did not always consistently monitor the quality and safety of care and treatment, and did not always use the findings to make improvements in outcomes for women. Leaders had systems for effective governance processes but not all risks were reported to allow oversight, and actions taken did not …

Must-do action 10 of 10

Must do

Well-led

The service must ensure that they assess, monitor and mitigate the risks related to the health, safety and welfare or service users and others who may be at risk which arise from the carry on of the regulated activity

Regulation: Regulation 17(2)(b)

⚠ Leaders had systems for effective governance processes but not all risks were reported to allow oversight. Staff did not always report all risks effectively, meaning leaders did not always have oversight of some risks, such as induction of labour delays and issues with bereavement paperwork. The service did not always …