CLACTON'S maternity unit has received a ‘good’ rating from the health watchdog following an inspection.

The Care Quality Commission deemed the Clacton and District Hospital unit to be a safe and well-led service and praised its leaders and culture. 

The maternity unit includes a standalone birth centre, which is open on demand, antenatal appointments, twice weekly consultant let clinics, ultrasound scanning, educational classes, vaccinations and newborn hearing screenings. 

According to the report, the staff is well-trained and managed to keep the unit safe while maintaining good care of patients’ records. 

The report states: “Midwifery staff received and kept up to date with their mandatory training. Training was up-to-date and reviewed regularly by the practice development team. 

“There was an emphasis on multidisciplinary training leading to better outcomes for women and birthing people and babies 

“Staff understood how to protect women and birthing people from abuse and the service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.” 

Since June, there has not been a single ‘red flag’ incident, where managers would note issues around staffing. 

Currently, there are 15 midwives and 11 support workers at the unit and 24-hour access to mental health support and specialists is available. 

The report further added: “Managers reviewed incidents on a regular basis so they could identify potential immediate actions.

"Staff told us if an incident occurred, managers would complete a rapid review of practice to help identify potential gaps in care to inform learning and improvement.

"Records confirmed there were no incidents open for more than 60 days.

"Incidents are thoroughly investigated, and managers share ways of improvements from incidents with the team.  

“Competent leaders who encourage and support, a respectful and valued culture, open culture for patients and their families to raise concerns without fear” 

As areas of improvement, the report advised staff to complete specialised training and basic life support training, which had been done by the majority of staff already.