DGH Maternity Services: Celebrated Leadership or Deepening Culture Concerns?

OUR Eastbourne DGH is part of the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust which has published an article entitled: “Recognising Exceptional Leadership in Maternity Services.”

It reported that three senior leaders from the Maternity Service have been recognised with the prestigious Cavell Star Award.

This celebrates their exceptional leadership, compassion and dedication during a prolonged period of significant staffing challenges.

Alice, Sam and Claire received the award.

This is great news, of course, but it has prompted strong words from Victoria Rixon, who calls herself a Midwife Whistleblower.

Here’s what she has had to say: “The amount of midwives who have reached out to me about this Trust is becoming impossible to ignore.

“Because while leadership is being publicly celebrated, I am hearing a very different story from some of the people working underneath it:

• Midwives struggling.

• Midwives raising concerns about workplace culture.

• Midwives talking about management and what happens when staff challenge decisions or speak up.

And then you look at what is already in the public record.

The CQC previously rated Eastbourne Midwife Unit Requires Improvement overall AND Requires Improvement for safety.

In 2023, the Eastbourne unit was reportedly closed for births on 87 days — almost a quarter of the entire year — because of staffing pressures.

One woman described having to travel approximately 20 miles by taxi to Conquest Hospital while in labour because the unit was closed.

And ESHT’s own maternity board reporting has previously documented four perinatal-death cases — two involving preterm birth and another two referred to HSIB where the babies were believed to have been alive at the beginning of labour but were subsequently born with no signs of life. The Trust reported that it reviewed these cases and identified no trends.

So I think there are legitimate questions to ask.

• What exactly does “exceptional leadership” look like? Because awards, plaques, photographs and press releases tell us very little about the culture experienced by the people actually working underneath senior management.

A healthy maternity service doesn’t just celebrate its leaders.

It listens to its midwives.

It protects people who raise concerns.

It learns when women or babies are harmed.

It examines staffing and safety.

And it doesn’t confuse silence with success.

What is your experience of maternity services at the DGH and Conquest?