Maternity services at Norfolk hospital improve but still require work |
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has increased the rating of maternity services at James Paget University Hospital from 'inadequate' to 'requires improvement'.
The rating of the Gorleston hospital overall has also been upgraded from 'requires improvement' to 'good'.
The James Paget Hospital in Gorleston. (Image: James Paget Hospital)
It comes after the CQC carried out an unannounced inspection at the hospital on September 16, 2025, following up on concerns identified at the previous inspection in January 2023.
The CQC found improvements at this inspection but said that they need to be embedded and sustained.
Inspectors found that the service now has a fully established leadership team following a period of instability.
Maternity facilities at the James Paget Hospital. (Image: James Paget Hospital)
According to the report, there is a "genuine culture of safety and learning" and that staff are "confident to raise concerns" with "incidents investigated thoroughly".
It said "women spoke positively about the care they received" and that they "felt involved in decisions about their care".
It found women were seen promptly in triage, with all highest-priority cases seen immediately and 91pc of urgent cases reviewed by a doctor within 15 minutes.
Maternity facilities at James Paget Hospital. (Image: James Paget Hospital)
However, it said that improvements needed to be made to the maternity services' bereavement support, dedicated triage phoneline and record-keeping processes.
Jonathan Gardner, executive managing director at James Paget Hospital, said: "We are pleased that the commitment to putting the needs of mothers, babies and families at the core of our maternity services have been recognised through the CQC’s inspection report.
"Since the outcome of the CQC’s inspection 2023, our maternity department and the whole hospital has responded to improve the services we provide for people giving birth and their babies. We will now focus on the additional actions we can take to continue to improve maternity care, and the wider quality and safety of our services.”