The Care Quality Commission criticised Countess of Chester Hospital over staff shortages and problems with patient records, and the trust was served with two warning notices
Lucy Letby’s hospital was blasted by health watchdogs just last year over shocking maternity failings.
The Care Quality Commission criticised Countess of Chester Hospital over staff shortages and problems with patient records. The trust was served with two warning notices and the maternity services branded “inadequate”. The most recent full inspection in June 2022 â four years after Letby was arrested â found five new mums had a major haemorrhage, losing more than two litres of blood and having to have hysterectomies.
One faced life-threatening delays when no hysterectomy kit could be found, and no staff present in the operating room could use one. Two had not been recorded as serious. The maternity unit had to shut for 144 hours over a 12 month period because of staff shortages.
Inspectors said: “Thirty-three women had to be diverted to other maternity units for some or all aspects of their care. Of these, 13 women birthed their baby in a maternity unit not of their choosing. The main reasons cited…were short staffing.