A statement on the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales Report into Maternity Services

21st June 2023

Abigail Holmes, Director of Midwifery, said: “The Health Board accepts the findings of the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report in full and we have taken necessary action to address all immediate concerns outlined.

“We would like to reassure the community that providing safe, effective and inclusive care to all women and birthing people is always our paramount priority. We remain fully committed to delivering the very best care possible and all findings will be used to make positive improvements.

“The Children and Women Clinical Board, along with our Executive team, have implemented and embedded a number of initiatives and strategies to ensure the care we provide is as effective and compassionate as possible. As a learning organisation, we are fully receptive to any areas for improvement and will continue to build on the progress made so far.

“We would like to thank all patients and colleagues who engaged with HIW inspectors and reassure them that their voices have been heard. We are acutely aware that colleagues work tirelessly in often challenging environments and appreciate the valiant effort they make every day to ensure our patients are well cared for. “The NHS faces a sustained shortage of nursing and midwifery staff nationally and we have on occasion made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend some services which has affected patient choice to ensure safe staffing levels are maintained on the main delivery unit.

“To mitigate these challenges, we have invested more than £2 million to improve recruitment and resources across maternity services within Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Our senior leadership team is also continuing to work with colleagues to find collaborative initiatives to enhance the way we work and ensure all colleagues feel supported, listened to and equipped to deliver the very best care to patients.

“It is reassuring that the report reflects colleagues’ dedication and passion, and we are pleased to hear that all patients who spoke with HIW at the follow up inspection had high praise for colleagues and felt cared for and listened to.

“We are also pleased the report highlighted a number of areas of good practice, including our ELAN team of midwives who look after women and birthing people with complex, social needs, our multidisciplinary approach to working, and the regular governance meetings introduced to foster a supportive culture and promote accountability and safe care.

“As a Health Board, we place the highest priority on cleanliness and hygiene and we are disappointed that on occasion, some areas have not met our high standards. Following the inspections, we took immediate action to resolve this and have developed a robust action plan to ensure these levels are maintained.

“Whilst we experience challenges with the aged infrastructure at the University Hospital of Wales, we would like to reassure our patients and the wider community that we are working hard to identify ways of mitigating these challenges and ensure we are equipped to deliver modern healthcare in a modern environment.”