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BBC News
14 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Leeds maternity services now 'inadequate' after inspectors act on parents' concerns
Maternity services at two Leeds hospitals have been downgraded from "good" to "inadequate" by the healthcare regulator, because their failings posed "a significant risk" to women and from staff and patients around quality of care and staffing levels were substantiated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) during unannounced inspections at Leeds Teaching Hospitals (LTH) NHS regulator has now issued a warning notice which requires the trust to take immediate action to improve. Neonatal services have also been downgraded from "good" to "requires improvement".Over the past six months, the BBC has spoken to 67 families who say they experienced inadequate care at the trust, including parents who say their babies suffered avoidable injury or death. We also talked to five whistleblowers who said the previous CQC "good" rating did not reflect response to the CQC downgrade, LTH said it had committed to improving its maternity and neonatal services at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and St James' University Hospital. 'At risk of avoidable harm' During its December 2024 and January 2025 inspections, the CQC found official regulation breaches relating to risk management, safe environment, learning following incidents, infection prevention and control, medicines management and of concern highlighted in the maternity units at both hospitals included: People being "not safe" and "at risk of avoidable harm" - while investigations into incidents, and points raised from these to enable learning, were not always evidentBabies and families not always being supported and treated with dignity and respectLeadership being "below acceptable standard" and not supporting the delivery of high-quality careStaff being reluctant to raise concerns and incidents - because "the trust had a blame culture"Staff, despite being passionate about their work, struggling to provide their desired standard of care because of staffing issues LTH provided evidence to the CQC showing it had reported 170 maternity "red flag incidents", indicating there had been staffing issues, between May and September CQC's findings also highlighted staffing concerns in neonatal services at both hospitals, with a shortage of qualified staff to care for babies with complex coming autumn, the trust says 35 newly qualified midwives are due to start work and it has also appointed additional midwifery leadership regulator will be monitoring the trust's services closely, including through further inspections - says the CQC's director in the north of England, Ann Ford - to make sure patients receive safe care while improvements are implemented."We would like to thank all those people who bravely shared their concerns," she said. "This helps us to have a better picture of the care being provided to people and to focus our inspection in the relevant areas." One family who told the BBC they believe their child would have survived had they received better treatment is Amarjit Kaur and Mandip Singh Matharoo, whose baby was stillborn in January CQC report highlights "how inadequate the service is, which leads to patient harm", they told us."Unfortunately, it's too little too late for our daughter Asees and us, but we hope that this will trigger serious change within the system and take the concerns of patients using the service more seriously."Fiona-Winser Ramm, whose daughter Aliona died in 2020 after what an inquest found to be a number of "gross failures", described the CQC's findings as "horrific"."The concerns we have been raising for five years have been proved true," she says. But she believes the CQC has been slow to act."The CQC inspected Leeds in 2023 and somehow rated them as being good. Let's be clear these problems haven't just appeared in the last two years, they are systemic."In response, the CQC said the 2023 inspection had been part of a national maternity inspection programme focussing specifically on safety and leadership, which found some areas for improvement, but also identified some good practice."As the independent regulator we are committed to ensuring our assessments of the quality and safety of all services are accurate and reflect the experiences of the people that use them," added Ann Ford. If you have been affected by the issues in this story, you can contact the BBC Action Line here All 67 families who have spoken to the BBC want an independent review into the trust's maternity services - and a group of them have asked Health Secretary Wes Streeting for it to be led by senior midwife Donna Leeds families also joined other bereaved parents from across England this week to urge Mr Streeting to hold a national inquiry into maternity safety - he is yet to make a executive of LTH, Prof Phil Wood, said in a statement: "My priority is to make sure we urgently take action to deliver these improvements."The trust is committed to providing "safe, compassionate care", he added, and has already started making improvements, including recruitment, and addressing concerns around culture."We deliver more than 8,500 babies each year and the vast majority of those are safe and positive experiences," he said. "But we recognise that's not the experience of all families." Do you have more information about this story?You can reach Divya directly and securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +44 7961 390 325, by email at or her Instagram account.
The Independent
15 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Maternity services in Leeds NHS hospitals downgraded by healthcare regulator
Two maternity services at NHS hospitals in Leeds have seen specific areas of care downgraded by the healthcare regulator for the first time since its founding. Services at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's University Hospital have dropped from an overall rating of good to inadequate after an investigation by the Care and Quality Commission (CQC) into reported issues with the quality of care. Unannounced inspections of maternity and neonatal services at the two hospitals, which come under Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, were made in December and January after whistleblowers, service users and their families raised concerns. It is the first time the CQC has given specific ratings for the sub-department categories of effective, caring and responsive for maternity care as a standalone service. Specific categories for 'safe and well-led' were downgraded to inadequate, while 'effective and caring' was rated as requires improvement and 'responsive' was rated as good. The CQC also rated the two hospitals' neonatal services as inadequate, as they were rated as standalone services for the first time. The regulator found breaches in several areas across the hospitals and their departments. Among the issues identified in maternity wards were dirty areas that put people at risk of infection, medicines being stored unsafely and issues around a 'blame culture' that meant staff stayed quiet about concerns. In neonatal services at both hospitals, leaders had not ensured adequate staff levels with the right qualifications and skills, while there was no designated private space for breastfeeding and equipment was not secured safely, the report said. Ann Ford, CQC's director of operations in the North, said: 'Prior to our visit, we had received a number of concerns from staff, people using the services and their families about the quality of care being delivered, including staff shortages in maternity at both hospitals. 'During the inspection, the concerns were substantiated, and this posed a significant risk to the safety of women, people using these services, and their babies as the staff shortages impacted on the timeliness of the care and support they received.' Ms Ford said staff in the hospitals were working hard to provide good care to patients but 'leaders weren't listening to them' when they identified areas of concern, while she said the fact investigations were not always carried out after incidents had taken place was 'concerning'. Babies were also being transferred between the two hospitals 'when it wasn't safe for them to do so', she added. The overall rating for Leeds General Infirmary declined from good to requires improvement and St James's University Hospital remains rated as requires improvement. The overall rating for the trust remains rated as good. The CQC has told Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to submit a plan showing what action it is taking in response to these concerns. Katie Warner, an expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell's Leeds office, said the findings would 'understandably cause significant anxiety for families'. 'Our clients have long-held concerns that previous CQC inspection ratings didn't accurately reflect the care on the ground families received, and things were worse than thought,' she said. 'Now that both services have been downgraded overall, our clients are now starting to feel listened to. However, the new ratings also raise serious questions about the standard of care being provided to families.' Professor Phil Wood, chief executive of the trust, said: 'These reports have highlighted significant areas where we need to improve our maternity and neonatal services, and my priority is to make sure we urgently take action to deliver these improvements. 'I want to reassure every family due to have their baby with us in Leeds and any new parents that we are absolutely committed to providing safe, compassionate care. 'We deliver more than 8,500 babies each year and the vast majority of those are safe and positive experiences for our families. But we recognise that's not the experience of all families. 'The loss of any baby is a tragedy, and I am extremely sorry to the families who have lost their babies when receiving care in our hospitals.' Professor Wood said the trust had 'fantastic teams of dedicated, compassionate staff in our maternity and neonatal services', and thanked those who had spoken 'openly and honestly' with the CQC during their inspections. He added: 'I recognise we need to be better at listening to our staff and acting on their concerns and I'm sorry we have fallen short on this. 'I want to reassure staff that they can speak up and will be heard in a supportive way.' The trust has already started making improvements to its services by recruiting 55 midwives since last autumn, while a further 35 newly qualified midwives are due to start later this year and more midwifery leadership roles have been appointed to support our clinical teams, the professor said.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Maternity services in Leeds NHS hospitals downgraded by healthcare regulator
Two maternity services at NHS hospitals in Leeds have seen specific areas of care downgraded by the healthcare regulator for the first time since its founding. Services at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's University Hospital have dropped from an overall rating of good to inadequate after an investigation by the Care and Quality Commission (CQC) into reported issues with the quality of care. Unannounced inspections of maternity and neonatal services at the two hospitals, which come under Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, were made in December and January after whistleblowers, service users and their families raised concerns. It is the first time the CQC has given specific ratings for the sub-department categories of effective, caring and responsive for maternity care as a standalone service. Specific categories for 'safe and well-led' were downgraded to inadequate, while 'effective and caring' was rated as requires improvement and 'responsive' was rated as good. The CQC also rated the two hospitals' neonatal services as inadequate, as they were rated as standalone services for the first time. The regulator found breaches in several areas across the hospitals and their departments. Among the issues identified in maternity wards were dirty areas that put people at risk of infection, medicines being stored unsafely and issues around a 'blame culture' that meant staff stayed quiet about concerns. In neonatal services at both hospitals, leaders had not ensured adequate staff levels with the right qualifications and skills, while there was no designated private space for breastfeeding and equipment was not secured safely, the report said. Ann Ford, CQC's director of operations in the North, said: 'Prior to our visit, we had received a number of concerns from staff, people using the services and their families about the quality of care being delivered, including staff shortages in maternity at both hospitals. 'During the inspection, the concerns were substantiated, and this posed a significant risk to the safety of women, people using these services, and their babies as the staff shortages impacted on the timeliness of the care and support they received.' Ms Ford said staff in the hospitals were working hard to provide good care to patients but 'leaders weren't listening to them' when they identified areas of concern, while she said the fact investigations were not always carried out after incidents had taken place was 'concerning'. Babies were also being transferred between the two hospitals 'when it wasn't safe for them to do so', she added. The overall rating for Leeds General Infirmary declined from good to requires improvement and St James's University Hospital remains rated as requires improvement. The overall rating for the trust remains rated as good. The CQC has told Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to submit a plan showing what action it is taking in response to these concerns. Katie Warner, an expert medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell's Leeds office, said the findings would 'understandably cause significant anxiety for families'. 'Our clients have long-held concerns that previous CQC inspection ratings didn't accurately reflect the care on the ground families received, and things were worse than thought,' she said. 'Now that both services have been downgraded overall, our clients are now starting to feel listened to. However, the new ratings also raise serious questions about the standard of care being provided to families.' Professor Phil Wood, chief executive of the trust, said: 'These reports have highlighted significant areas where we need to improve our maternity and neonatal services, and my priority is to make sure we urgently take action to deliver these improvements. 'I want to reassure every family due to have their baby with us in Leeds and any new parents that we are absolutely committed to providing safe, compassionate care. 'We deliver more than 8,500 babies each year and the vast majority of those are safe and positive experiences for our families. But we recognise that's not the experience of all families. 'The loss of any baby is a tragedy, and I am extremely sorry to the families who have lost their babies when receiving care in our hospitals.' Professor Wood said the trust had 'fantastic teams of dedicated, compassionate staff in our maternity and neonatal services', and thanked those who had spoken 'openly and honestly' with the CQC during their inspections. He added: 'I recognise we need to be better at listening to our staff and acting on their concerns and I'm sorry we have fallen short on this. 'I want to reassure staff that they can speak up and will be heard in a supportive way.' The trust has already started making improvements to its services by recruiting 55 midwives since last autumn, while a further 35 newly qualified midwives are due to start later this year and more midwifery leadership roles have been appointed to support our clinical teams, the professor said.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Army of undercover agents to target boardroom crooks
Britain's most senior fraud-buster is planning to hire an army of whistleblowers and undercover agents as part of a crackdown on white-collar crime in the City. Nick Ephgrave, chief of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), has vowed to ramp up the use of 'covert tactics' as he relies on skills learnt during three decades in the Metropolitan Police. As part of the overhaul, he wants undercover officers, paid informants and targeted surveillance operations to help pin down perpetrators of complex corporate frauds. 'Fraudsters are just criminals acting in a different sphere,' he said. 'They're cheating ordinary people, taking money, and damaging the country – the same as gunrunners, drug smugglers and all the rest. 'We should therefore use as much of the tactical armoury that we can against them. That was something I brought in from my policing background, and we are continuing to build that capability.' More than 3.3m frauds were reported in 2024, resulting in in losses worth £1.17bn. This was a 12pc increase on the 3m cases the previous year, according to a UK Finance report. Mr Ephgrave claims to have already made significant headway on tackling the issue since taking over the SFO in 2023, but he is not resting on his laurels. 'I've opened 12 cases since I've started, more than any other director in that period of time,' he said. 'You've got a very, very hungry director of the SFO that is determined to find out. I'm pushing for whistleblowing. I'm pushing for people to come forward. I'm using more covert tactics. I'm getting into your boardrooms. 'Criminals are bullies. They steal, they cheat, they hurt people. You need to stand up to them, and I enjoy doing that. Who wouldn't want to get fired up and enthusiastic about doing that job? 'That's the same motivation whether you're a PC on the beat or director of the SFO.' Police force To boost his cause, Mr Ephgrave is planning to join other forces across Britain in paying whistleblowers for information. 'You only need to look at America to see how effective a properly resourced and arranged incentivised whistleblowing scheme is,' he said. 'Since 2012, 700 UK nationals have gone to the States to blow the whistle, when they could have done it here and this country could have benefited from that. 'Not only could we potentially have had the prosecutions here, but the fines and the money that comes from those prosecutions goes into the Treasury. We've lost all that – it's gone to America.' Prior to taking the top job at the SFO, Mr Ephgrave had served as the third-highest-ranking officer in the Metropolitan Police Service under the leadership of Cressida Dick. This set him apart from all other former SFO directors, who forged their careers as lawyers before taking on the top job at the fraud agency. 'When I came to the end of my policing career, I still had plenty of fire in my belly,' he said. 'I still wanted to be involved in law enforcement. I still wanted to do the best I could for this country.' Now, as the SFO's new director, he wants to use what he learnt in the police to help the UK fraud agency take a more 'practical and pragmatic approach'. 'I spent 35 years investigating stuff in the police so I do have the benefit of a huge amount of experience,' he said. 'I've made all the mistakes. I've done all the things to learn. 'Policing operates in a much faster-paced environment. It's a quicker turnaround. We can learn some of those lessons and bring them into the SFO and we've been doing that.' He believes such tactics can help the SFO take shortcuts to fast-track fraud cases in a way that avoids dragging the agency into risky and expensive trials in court. Growth mission The plan forms part of a wider carrot-and-stick approach to tackling fraud through which Mr Ephgrave is seeking to offer deals in the form of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs). The agreements let companies avoid criminal trials and typically result in them being forced to pay a fine. 'If you come forward, self-disclose, and fully cooperate with us, we will enter into a DPA with you,' Mr Ephgrave said, 'which means your company can survive and carry on being a profitable organisation, carry on employing people, and carry on being a benefit to the country.' Whistleblowers also offer a way to cut out much of the time spent trawling through documents by pointing the SFO's investigators directly to the source. 'The average size of our investigation is about 5m documents,' Mr Ephgrave said. 'We have a current case on our books with more than 40m documents. One thing whistleblowing can do is take us to the source of the evidence much more quickly, so we haven't got to go out and trawl through tons and tons of stuff.' This renewed focus has already seen him take 'tough decisions to shut cases' that were going nowhere. 'We've got limited resources,' he said. 'I cannot afford to have teams working away on lost causes, so we have to be really hard-nosed and say: 'We're not going anywhere with this''. As for the recent £8.3m funding boost from the Government's spending review, he plans to invest the cash in the SFO's intelligence capabilities and expand its investigative reach. 'We fundamentally believe the SFO is a crucial actor in the growth mission,' he said. 'This country has to be a reliable and safe place for businesses to conduct their business, which means we can have no tolerance for corruption, bribery or large-scale fraud. 'We will pursue every allegation that is appropriate for us to pursue to make this country a really safe and secure place to do business and that's what's going to drive growth. 'If we don't do that, if we fall down on our mission and let all that stuff slip, then this is going to become a wild west again, and reputable companies are going to think twice about investing here.'
The Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
Chilling moment thieves steal car with wireless device in seconds as new doc reveals how Brit motors end up in Lithuania
CHILLING footage shows the moment thieves stole a car in just seconds using a wireless device. Investigative reporter Matt Shea went undercover for Channel 4 Dispatches to shed light on organised criminal gangs specialising in car thefts. 5 5 5 In the show, which will air in full tonight, Shea met whistleblowers and car thieves in a bid to expose the truth. A sneak peek at the much-anticipated programme shows two car thieves demonstrating using keyless technology bought from the dark web. Footage shows the pair revealing to Shea exactly how they can steal a car in just 20 seconds. Thief 'T' and an accomplice demonstrated how they use an amplifier, which looks similar to a radio or walkie-talkie. It picks up the signal from the "key" inside a home and use it to unlock a car parked outside. The device works by scrambling the signal from a remote key fob, and was used in nearly 60 percent of car thefts in the UK last year. After just a few seconds of holding the amplifier outside the window, the car door unlocked, allowing T to simply open the door and start up the engine. Once the engine had started, the accomplice could take the amplifier, jump in the car and they drove off, with the entire theft taking less than 20 seconds. Asked if they feel anything for the people they steal from they respond: 'These cars are insured, that's like, that a first world problem, you know, there's bigger s*** going on out there,. "Like your f***ng Range Rover 's gone, boo-hoo, go and buy another one, man.' "The Teslas aren't easy, I don't think anyone's figured that out yet, because they are proper high tech' the thieves claim. Moment cops snare 'Rolex Ripper' gang after brazen watch thieves try to rob pair…only to find they're undercover police However, they brazenly boasted that others makes and models are easy to steal. The men claimed they have taken up to 20 vehicles a month for as much as £5,000 per car, depending on its value. They told Shea that up to 90 per cent of cars are broken down for their parts. Last year approximately 355 vehicles were stolen every day in England and Wales. The shocking finds equate to a stolen car every four minutes, and more than 70 per cent the amount stolen a decade ago. Freedom of Information requests to police forces in England and Wales also reveal that – for the 18 forces who responded - only 3.4 per cent of reports of a car being stolen between 2020 and 2024 led to someone being charged or summonsed. In the documentary, criminals revealed how highly organised gangs stole cars, dismantling them at so called 'chop shops' before shipping them out of the country to Eastern Europe. The programme reveals how a blue Audi A4, fitted with a hidden tracker, was stolen from a woman's driveway in north London on March 15. The car's GPS signal showed the Audi moving east towards the borough of Enfield and then switching off. Five weeks later, the tracker suddenly reappeared in Kaunas, Lithuania, and was tracked to a business in the outskirts of the city called Baltic Car Trade. Dispatches filmed the police raid on the property, but instead of finding a blue Audi A4, all they found that was left of the vehicle was a bunch of wires. The car, like many stolen off British streets, was long gone having been torn apart. 5 5
