Royal Bolton Hospital's maternity service has lost its good rating and is in need of improvement, according to the health watchdog. 

A report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) today addresses a number of issues with the maternity service at the hospital on Minerva Road, from staff shortages and skills shortages to the completion of essential training and the management of incidents.

When inspectors arrived at Royal Bolton two months ago, a birth centre and a neonatal unit were both closed as a result of these staff shortages and skills shortages, and not for the first time.

Almost 20 per cent of roles were vacant at the service, most of them midwives.

The report states: "The trust recognised due to staffing constraints not being able to open a second maternity theatre was a serious risk.

"A business case was approved on 1 November 2022 to establish a multidisciplinary team to support the opening of second maternity theatre as required."

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In terms of the completion of essential training, the trust was below its own target, and in terms of the management of incidents there was a backlog of 238 in need of review after more than 60 days.

In response to these issues, as well as others, inspectors said the maternity service 'requires improvement', down from its previous rating of 'good'. However, the hospital's overall rating is still 'good'.

Carolyn Jenkinson, CQC's deputy director of secondary and specialist care, said: "When we visited the maternity service at Royal Bolton, we found a deterioration in the standard of care being provided across the areas we looked at. However, there had been recent changes in the leadership team who had started to make some improvements."

Ms Jenkinson added: "We have informed the trust’s leadership team where the improvements are required and we will continue to monitor the service closely, including through future inspections, to determine whether the issues we identified are addressed."

Tyrone Roberts, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust's chief nursing officer, stressed the challenges faced by the trust are also faced by other NHS organisations across the country.

He suggested there is a plan in place to tackle staff shortages and skills shortages.

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Mr Roberts said: "Our priority is always the safety of our patients and ensuring we consistently deliver the high-quality care our communities expect and deserve. It has been a difficult couple of years, and like other NHS organisations we are experiencing challenges when it comes to addressing workforce gaps in the maternity service."

He added: "The outcome of the report is a fair and balanced reflection of the challenges we face, and I have every faith the team we have in place will make sure we overcome them."

The maternity service at Royal Bolton serves the areas of Bolton, Bury, Salford and Wigan, in particular after the maternity service at Fairfield General closed more than 10 years ago.

Is is estimated 5,500 babies are delivered at the hospital a year.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.