Two thirds of maternity units fail to meet safety standards as poor care is “normalised,” says regulator

Poor care in maternity services is being “normalised,” the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned as it urges the NHS and the government to act to prevent further harm to women and babies.1

In a report published on 19 September the CQC presented findings from its recent national maternity inspection programme, which inspected 131 maternity units in England from August 2022 to December 2023. These units had not been inspected and rated since March 2021.

The CQC found some examples of good practice but also revealed that nearly half of units (48%) were rated as “requires improvement’” or “inadequate” overall. Notably, only 35% of units were rated “good” for safety, while nearly half (47%) were rated as “requires improvement” …