Under-pressure midwives at a hospital in Nottinghamshire have lifted the lid on the increasing stresses of their job due to 'horrendous' staffing levels. NHS workers on the maternity ward at King's Mill Hospital said workforce shortages sometimes made the service feel unsafe.
"You're forever saying sorry to your patients. 'I'm sorry we can't get back to you, I'm sorry we're late getting back to you, sorry'," said Angela Wragg, a 65-year-old midwife with more than 23 years of experience at the Sutton-in-Ashfield-based hospital. "You can only work so fast."
Sherwood Forest Hospitals (SFH), which has a shortfall of 3.8 full time equivalent midwives, said measures meant it always had safe staffing levels. But Ms Wragg, who works on the continuity team, said at times it felt as though levels had been compromised.
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Colleague Jenny Wilkinson, a midwife of six years, shared her concerns. "It doesn't feel safe sometimes with the amount of staff that we've got, which they are aware of. It's not good for women. It just doesn't happen very often," the 44-year-old told Nottinghamshire Live.
"The staffing levels are horrendous. We do incident forms and let management know and we're struggling. It's a big issue at the minute. The morale's really low as well. We all try or best but all we do is say sorry. People think it's nice and cuddly but it's really not. It's amazing caring for these mums and babies and what we actually do is forgotten about in the haste of no staff and high workloads."
Midwives across the UK were urged last month to go on strike by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in a dispute with the government over pay. The result of the ballot, due to close on Monday, December 12, could put more pressure on maternity wards across Nottinghamshire.
Ms Wragg added: "I am tired. On a good day it's great and on a bad day it's horrid. The good thing is we do get amazing comments from women but a lot recognise that we are short staffed as well. They're asking us 'are you all right?' And they'll give us chocolates and pizza to keep us going."
Paula Shore, director of midwifery at SFH, said that the maternity department maintained safe staffing levels. "We know what we've got as our established number and then we've got an agreed minimum staffing. If we were to trigger that minimum staffing point, then there's escalations," she said.
"But actually, when we look back at recent shifts, we've not gone below our minimum staffing at all, in the last six months. It may feel that they're unsafe, but actually what we have to go back to is why did it make you feel unsafe? And is there anything around it we can do? Our outcomes are good at Sherwood, so we know we've got the outcomes.
"For me it's because we have got busier at Sherwood. It's about how we make it so we can get different ways of working. For example, on the maternity ward we've introduced a registered nurse who can do tasks that the midwife would normally do." Ms Shore said hiring had become more difficult due to the fact midwife courses were no longer funded.
She added: "Staff perceive that it's busy, particularly the ward it's a very busy area. But is it unsafe? No. As a hospital for local families. We're there for them. It is safe and if they've got any concerns, they just need to keep coming forward."
The maternity services at the hospital have an overall rating of 'good' as given to it by the health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC). It comes as an independent maternity review, led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden, continues to examine failings at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH). NUH's maternity services at both the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital are currently rated 'inadequate' by the (CQC).
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