Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the safety of NHS maternity services in Fylde constituency.

The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust entered the national Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) in September 2022, following a Care Quality Commission inspection earlier that month which rated Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s maternity services in the Fylde constituency as ‘requires improvement’ overall. The programme provides intensive support to the trust to assist in the improvement of their maternity services, including a dedicated Maternity Improvement Advisor and support to implement a tailored improvement plan. A full diagnostic assessment has identified key areas of focus with an associated improvement plan and agreed exit criteria.

The Local Maternity and Neonatal System arm of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board receives reports from the MSSP, so it can support the service with focused improvement work.

A MSSP assurance visit on 27 January 2025 concluded that significant improvements had been made across a number of areas, with evidence of data demonstrating sustained improvement. The next review meeting for the service is to take place on 28 May 2025.