Three in four maternity units have NO consultants on site out of office hours

Three quarters of maternity units have no consultants on site at night, a damning audit reveals today.

The Daily Mail found that at most centres consultants go home in the early evening, leaving women in the hands of midwives and often exhausted junior doctors.

Weekend cover is also extremely patchy, with the majority of wards relying on a lone consultant who attends for a few hours.

Although these specialists are on call from home, they are summoned only if something goes wrong. They can live up to 30 minutes away.

Research has found that weekend babies are more likely to die or suffer a serious injury and that their mothers have a significantly higher chance of infection.

Around 70 per cent of births are outside normal working hours, with 4am the peak time. 

Kim Thomas, of the Birth Trauma Association, said: ‘It’s very worrying that so many maternity units don’t have consultants on site at night or at weekends.

The Daily Mail found that at most centres consultants go home in the early evening, leaving women in the hands of midwives and often exhausted junior doctors. Weekend cover is also extremely patchy, with the majority of wards relying on a lone consultant who attends for a few hours [File photo]

‘If something goes wrong during childbirth, women need to know that expert medical help is available and research has shown that not having a consultant on site can lead to devastating outcomes – often because staff on site don’t want to bother the on-call consultant.

Mother died after ‘gross failure of care’ at weekend

Nanaaishat Momodu died after suffering a ‘catastrophic’ bleed at a maternity unit at the weekend.

She was 23 weeks pregnant with her third child when she began experiencing abdominal pains.

The 32-year-old was admitted to North Manchester General Hospital in the early hours of a Saturday.

Nanaaishat Momodu died after suffering a ‘catastrophic’ bleed at a maternity unit at the weekend

But there was a four-hour delay taking her to theatre while doctors discussed diagnoses. 

Mrs Momodu died following a cardiac arrest on October 12, 2015. Her baby had already died.

At an inquest last July, coroner John Pollard said there had been a ‘gross failure of care’ and ‘significant failings and missed opportunities’.

The hearing was told doctors failed to pick up on an abnormally low blood-pressure reading.

After the hearing, Mrs Momodu’s husband, Nosawanu Oseki-Odigei, 39, said: ‘The care given to my wife has brought me and my family so much sadness.’

Professor Matt Makin, medical director at the hospital, said: ‘Leadership has now been enhanced across the organisation and we have appointed a new director of midwifery and strengthened the maternity workforce.

‘The patient handover process has also been improved in many areas, and we have introduced a new safety huddle, and patient handover boards, which are visible to patients.

‘The hospital is also engaging more with mums and their families.’

‘Even if the consultant is called out, a long wait can be stressful for the mother as well as potentially dangerous for the baby.’

Maternity services have been under the spotlight since a major review was launched into Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, where 250 families allege poor care.

Figures from the Care Quality Commission in December found that half of units in England were failing to meet safety standards.

The Mail used freedom of information laws to ask hospital trusts in England how many senior doctors were present on their maternity units at weekends and between 10pm and 8am in the week. 

Of the 79 to reply, 58 – or 73 per cent – said consultants were not on site at night and only on call for emergencies. 

A further 11 said the specialists were on site for some nights of the week, commonly Monday through to Thursday but not Friday to Sunday.

Just four trusts confirmed they were on site during the night throughout the week. The remainder failed to answer. 

The majority said consultants came in for part of the weekend but four trusts said they were only on call from home.

Lucy Watson, of The Patients Association, said: ‘It’s a concern that so many hospital trusts have no consultant cover at night. While midwives and doctors in training are highly skilled in caring for patients, there are a number of rare but sudden catastrophic events in labour where less experienced doctors may require the advice and expertise of a senior colleague.

‘Every woman deserves to receive safe, high-quality care when having a baby, and hospitals should do everything possible to improve maternity services and deliver quality care to women and their families – day or night.’

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s health spokesman, said: ‘We are facing a staffing crisis across the NHS with shortages so severe, patient safety is at risk. Mums-to-be will want reassurance they will receive the very best maternity care.’ 

NHS England, which runs the Health Service, has said there was no evidence that overnight consultants improved safety. 

But research by Imperial College London found that babies were 7 per cent more likely to be stillborn if delivered at the weekend, and a National Audit Office report highlighted how the risk of injury to an infant varied from one in 68 on weekdays to one in 60 on Saturdays or Sundays. 

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has previously said hospitals should ideally have a 24-hour presence. 

It has changed stance, and spokesman Professor Mary Ann Lumsden said: ‘Evidence has shown that the outcome for mothers and babies is not improved by the presence of a consultant obstetrician resident on a labour ward 24 hours a day.

‘Therefore, the college recommends that the focus of every maternity unit should be on ensuring there are sufficient numbers of staff, with the appropriate skills.’

‘Delays cost my baby girl her life’

Amy Belton believes her baby daughter died due to a lack of consultants at the weekend

Amy Belton believes her baby daughter died due to a lack of consultants at the weekend.

She went into hospital at 10.30pm on a Sunday and said she was told she would have to wait to be properly assessed.

The mother of three had suffered severe bleeding a few days earlier and her waters had broken. 

But she was left overnight and not given a scan until the following day.

This revealed her daughter Maddison had died and she was delivered stillborn on the Tuesday. 

Mrs Belton, 32, from Hemlington, Middlesbrough, said: ‘The lack of staff definitely contributed. It was Sunday night, but I was expected to wait until Monday morning for the day staff to arrive.

‘I believe if they had acted sooner, my baby girl would be alive today.’

Mrs Belton and her husband, Paul, are taking legal action against the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Its spokesman said: ‘We continue to offer our condolences to the family but we cannot comment further at this stage.’