Leeds maternity units downgraded to 'inadequate'
LEEDS, ENGLAND, JUN 20 – The Care Quality Commission found serious safety failings including staffing shortages and unsafe environments at two Leeds hospitals delivering over 8,500 babies annually, prompting urgent improvement demands.
- On June 20, 2025, the Care Quality Commission lowered the rating of maternity care at two hospitals within Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust from "good" to "inadequate" due to serious safety concerns identified during inspections.
- This downgrade followed unannounced inspections in December 2024 and January 2025, prompted by concerns from whistleblowers, families, and staff about quality of care and staffing levels.
- The CQC found breaches in risk management, infection control, medicines storage, unsafe baby transfers, and a blame culture that suppressed staff raising concerns.
- The trust has recruited 55 midwives since autumn 2024 and plans to add 35 more this autumn to address a shortfall of 11 midwives from the recommended 367.
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust committed to urgent improvements including stronger leadership, culture change, and continued monitoring to restore safe, compassionate maternity care.
21 Articles
21 Articles
The anger of the Leeds maternity families
It was November 2020 when Fiona Winser-Ramm first raised safety concerns about maternity services in Leeds to the healthcare watchdog. Her daughter, Aliona Grace, had died at Leeds General Infirmary in January that year, 27 minutes after she was born. An inquest into the death in 2023 found a “number of gross failures of the most basic nature that directly contributed to Aliona’s death”. The family experienced “neglect by the midwives”, and a “g…
'Significant risk' posed to women and babies at two NHS hospitals in Leeds, regulator finds
Maternity and neonatal services at Leeds General Infirmary and St James's University Hospital have been rated inadequate, with inspectors finding dirty wards and medicines stored unsafely.
City's maternity services rated 'inadequate' after complaints
GMC Imposes Conditions on Obstetrics and Gynaecology Training in Manchester - Fitness to Practise News by Kings View Chambers
The General Medical Council (GMC) has taken decisive regulatory action against North Manchester General Hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology training programme, part of the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The move comes after nearly three years of persistent concerns surrounding the hospital’s failure to uphold key standards in medical education and patient safety. The GMC announced it has formally placed conditions on the training …
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