Hospital chiefs have outlined changes being made following a damning CQC report so they can manage through the winter.

In June 2023, the CQC (Care Quality Commission) found that York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust required improvement, particularly noting poor maternity services and inadequate leadership.

“People couldn’t access services,” according to the report, and there was “poor leadership” across the board.

On September 19, bosses at the trust faced questions from the City of York Council’s health, housing and adult social care scrutiny committee.

Dawn Parkes, the trust’s interim chief nurse, was asked about staffing and the culture in York and Scarborough’s maternity services.

“There were some urgent actions taken before we got the report,” she said.

“In maternity particularly there’s been a lot of investment, particularly around some of the specialist roles.”

Ms Parkes said “significant investment” had gone into maternity roles and added: “One of the things I’ve put in place is a much clearer career framework.

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“We’ve introduced apprentice healthcare assistants so that we’ve got a really clear structure for people in the community we can support into employment.”

Cllr Danny Myers, chair of the committee, said: “[The CQC report] was obviously very difficult reading and a lot of residents would have been very concerned, particularly with relation to maternity services.”

He added that governance was also highlighted and asked for assurances that is being addressed.

Ms Parkes said: “You’re absolutely right to call out the concern that would have caused our population locally."

She added: “It’s absolutely a core priority because unless we know our business, we can’t move forward.”

Ms Parkes addressed issues around people working within maternity services feeling comfortable telling senior members of staff about problems with their work.

“In maternity, we’ve had to really work on the culture so people feel safe raising concerns,” the chief nurse added.

“That’s been a really core element.

“We’ve still got some pockets where staff are having to be supported but we’re definitely seeing a change in the data and what people are saying when we’re out and about.”

The trust is also contemplating implementing a freedom-to-speak guardian just for maternity staff and has committed to a culture and leadership framework across the whole network.

Cllr Myers said he saw “lots of encouragement” and “really positive” steps addressing the damning CQC report.

Simon Morritt, the trust’s chief executive, was asked about A&E pressure and said pressures are “still as great” but that is because the A&E has moved location and there is work to be done in the vacated space.

“Once we’ve co-located our same-day emergency assessment centres, we very much hope that we will start to see benefits of what is a much larger and better environment for our staff to work in and our patients to experience,” he said.

“We anticipate that work will be complete by the second week of October and it’s important [that] it is.

“It’s an important part of the arrangements we’re putting in place to help us manage this winter.”