More Money, Better Care, Less DisAbility

Exactly one week ago, I posted on my blog about my views on compensation that is provided to families when their children are left with Cerebral Palsy due to hospital negligence during labour or shortly after birth. My post talks about how physical health is priceless, and how no amount of compensation can ever be enough to make up for the problems and the pain caused to people with Cerebral Palsy and their families. I suggest, in this post, that what the government, and hospitals, really need to do is improve maternity wards, and the care that they provide to pregnant women during labour, and to newborn babies after birth.

So I was very, very pleased when I heard news reports about a review of all the maternity units in England, which was recently carried out by the Healthcare Commission.

A survey of 150 NHS Trusts by the Commission has found low staffing levels and poor facilities in some hospitals.

The report revealed some trusts had as few as two beds available per 1,000 births, meaning that each bed was used, on average, by more than one woman in 24 hours.

The report found that some hospitals were far worse staffed than others, with a ratio of fewer than 23 midwives per 1,000 births, compared with 40 per 1,000 in the most generously staffed units.

Healthcare Commission chairman Sir Ian Kennedy said many hospitals had made improvements already as a result of the review but problems remained.

“There is no doubt that the report contains some tough messages,” he said.

“There is clearly more to be done to improve the quality of clinical care as well as the experiences of women.”

As a result of this report, the government has said it will provide £330m for maternity wards. They are also planning to recruit 4000 midwives by 2012. Government critics, however, have said that women have had to put up with failings for too long.

In my opinion, this report should have been carried out a very long time ago. I do not completely agree with the view that the promised improvements are too little, too late, however. Of course, they come too late for Andrew Dixon, Callum Robertson, Daniel Kay, Owen Johnson, and all others who have been left with severe Cerebral Palsy as a direct result of hospital negligence or a lack of facilities on maternity wards.

However, if these improvements take place, and if they mean that even one mother and newborn baby receive a high enough level of care in the maternity ward to prevent Cerebral Palsy, they will have come on time. So I sincerely hope that the government can keep these promises. If they do, they might just save themselves some money by reducing rates of disability in the UK. Nothing would make me happier than to see that happen.