It’s the kind of headline no expectant parent wants to see: “England’s worst maternity units named and shamed.” Yet here we are—again—reading about hospitals where mothers are let down, babies are lost unnecessarily, and families are left picking up the pieces after preventable tragedies. The latest findings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have exposed a sobering reality—nearly half of maternity units in England are failing to provide safe, adequate care.
Out of 131 units inspected between August 2022 and December 2023, a shocking number were labeled as either “requires improvement” or “inadequate.” Even more troubling, not a single unit was rated “outstanding” for safety. The consequences are real and devastating—avoidable stillbirths, traumatic births, and families left with lifelong grief.
This article dives deep into what the CQC found, which hospitals are performing the worst, the cultural and systemic failures behind the statistics, and most importantly—what must change to restore faith in the NHS maternity system.
What the CQC Report Reveals
Overview of the 2022–2024 Inspections
The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England, and when they speak, the nation listens. Their latest in-depth review of maternity services paints a bleak picture of standards in NHS hospitals. Over the 16-month period covered in their report, CQC inspected 131 maternity units across England.
The results were startling:
- 12% were rated as “inadequate” overall
- 36% were rated as “requires improvement”
- 47% needed improvement specifically in safety
- Not a single maternity unit was rated “outstanding” for safety
Let that sink in: nearly half the units inspected are falling short in the one area where there’s no room for error—keeping mothers and babies safe.
Key Safety Ratings Across 131 Units
When the CQC assesses a hospital’s maternity services, safety is a critical category. This includes things like whether there are enough qualified staff, how quickly patients are assessed upon arrival, how incidents are reported, and if lessons are learned from mistakes.
Their findings showed:
- Staff shortages are causing delays in triage, leading to missed red flags.
- In some cases, patients were discharging themselves due to excessive waiting times.
- There were repeated failures to record or escalate serious incidents.
In simple terms, hospitals are stretched thin, and it’s costing lives.
What “Inadequate” and “Requires Improvement” Really Mean
To the untrained eye, these ratings might sound like bureaucratic jargon. But for those walking into a maternity ward, they could spell life or death.
- “Inadequate” means a service is unsafe and unfit to care for patients. Action must be taken immediately.
- “Requires improvement” suggests serious concerns that, while not yet catastrophic, could become so if ignored.
This is not about minor paperwork errors or delayed lunch breaks—this is about real people being failed in their most vulnerable moments.
The Worst-Rated NHS Maternity Units
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottingham has become synonymous with one of the NHS’s worst maternity scandals in recent memory. Despite a high-profile independent review launched in 2022 to investigate over 2,000 cases involving baby deaths and severe harm, recent CQC ratings still show the trust’s maternity units as “requires improvement.”
Why? Because the same issues—staff shortages, poor communication, and failure to learn from incidents—persist. The independent review, spearheaded by midwife Donna Ockenden, has already brought to light stories of babies who could have been saved, and mothers who weren’t listened to when it mattered most.
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
This trust has faced damning criticism over a series of avoidable deaths and injuries. An investigation found that up to 45 babies might have survived had proper care been given. The culture was described as “defensive” and “unwilling to learn from mistakes.”
Even after being exposed, many families feel justice has yet to be served. East Kent is now undergoing reforms, but change has been painfully slow. Leadership failures and toxic culture have made it one of the most notorious examples of system collapse in maternity care.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
Perhaps the most tragic of all, this trust was at the heart of the largest maternity scandal in NHS history. Over 1,800 families were impacted, with the final report revealing 201 avoidable stillbirths and dozens of neonatal deaths.
What happened at Shrewsbury wasn’t just poor practice—it was a systemic culture of cover-up, where midwives were encouraged to avoid C-sections to hit targets, even when it endangered mothers and babies.
The damage done here is irreversible—but it has also sparked national outrage and calls for sweeping reform.
