The latest Care Quality Commission report comes on the back of a damning report in June amid wider problems with maternity care across the country. 

A Care Quality Commission inspection at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has rated leadership as “requires improvement” following an inspection in June.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust consists of Leeds General Infirmary, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds Children’s Hospital, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Wharfedale Hospital, Seacroft Hospital and Leeds Dental Institute. 

The latest inspection looked at how well-led the trust is and was carried out. It follows an inspection in June that said that the Trust must make immediate improvements to its maternity and neonatal services. Maternity services at both hospitals declined from “good” to “inadequate” overall, and neonatal services at both hospitals were rated as “requires improvement” overall.

“Leaders didn’t always listen to concerns, and some staff had negative experiences when they voiced issues, which impacted their wellbeing and the quality of people’s care,” said Rob Assall, CQC director of operations in the north. 

“We received several in-depth accounts from staff of bullying and harassment in the workplace, which provided evidence of behaviours which didn’t align with the trust’s values.”

Repeated difficulties

Inspectors found that the board wasn’t working as cohesively as it should have been and that feedback reflected that the openness and culture at the board level were mixed. Although leaders aimed to have a positive, compassionate and listening culture which promoted trust between themselves and staff, this was inconsistent across services and at the board level. 

“We have told leaders the areas where improvements are needed to ensure the trust is led successfully, and we will continue to monitor them, including through future inspections, to ensure the necessary improvements are made,” said Assall. 

There have been repeated difficulties at the Trust. 

As Healthcare Today reported in January, there were at least 56 cases of stillbirths or neonatal deaths, as well as two maternity deaths, between January 2019 and July 2024. At the time, families were calling for an independent review into Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, specifically for an independent, judge-led enquiry to help improve maternity safety.

CQC found breaches of regulations in maternity services related to learning following incidents, risk management, safe environment, infection prevention and control, medicines management and management processes.

Breaches were also found in neonatal services relating to risk management, safe environment, infection prevention and control, medicines management and staffing.

Wider problems

The problems at Leeds are part of a wider problem in Britain with maternity care. 

At the beginning of September, a report from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) reiterated that challenges in maternity and neonatal safety are the result of systemic issues at a national level, rather than isolated issues within local areas.

As Charlie Massey, chief executive of the GMC, pointed out in a speech in mid-September: “That doctors are making life or death decisions in environments where they feel fearful to speak up is profoundly concerning. Those are the very factors that lead to cover-up over candour, and obfuscation over honesty. And it is in those cultures that the greatest patient harm occurs.”

Announced in June by health and social care secretary Wes Streeting, and headed by Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, 14 hospital trusts – including Leeds – are to be looked at as part of a rapid, independent, national investigation into maternity and neonatal services.

Amos is expected to deliver one set of national recommendations to achieve consistently high-quality, safe maternity and neonatal care, with interim recommendations delivered in December.