HAMPSHIRE Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed it has exited the Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) following significant improvements to its maternity services.

The trust received the view of the National Quality Performance Committee at NHS England, as well as the maternity improvement advisor and regional chief midwife, that the criteria for leaving the Maternity Safety Support Programme had been met in December last year. 

It then received formal notification of its exit from the programme in April.

Julie Dawes, chief nurse for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Safe and high-quality maternity care is of the upmost importance for all of us at Hampshire Hospitals. We are pleased that the improvements made to our services whilst within the Maternity Safety Support Programme have been recognised by the National Quality Performance Committee, the Maternity Improvement Advisor and the Regional Chief Midwife.

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“We are proud of our recruitment programme for midwifery with our maternity units safely staffed, and a full suite of policies and procedures in place, governing the management of equipment, communication, and training. We have fully resolved the items noted by the CQC when they visited in 2021.

“We look forward to welcoming back the CQC who will provide an impartial review of the work that has been carried out by our hardworking and committed staff.”

Hampshire Hospitals provides maternity care to almost 5,000 families each year, running services at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, Andover War Memorial Hospital, and in the community.

Shortly after a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of its maternity services in 2021, Hampshire Hospitals was enrolled in the Maternity Safety Support Programme, enabling it to receive enhanced support in delivering required improvements to maternity services.

The trust’s exit from the MSSP follows the recent CQC survey of maternity service users at HHFT which showed year-on-year improvements across the pregnancy, labour, and birth journey. 

Alongside this, Hampshire Hospitals again achieved all ten of the core safety actions in the NHS Maternity Incentive Scheme, designed to improve the quality of care for women, families and newborns. 

These actions include ensuring high rates of staff training, openly sharing pregnancy and birth data, and reporting poor outcomes to the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations team for independent review.