THE Department of Health today said it “expects the local NHS” to take action over revelations of poor standards of care in Wirral's maternity unit.

The call is in response to a Globe exclusive which highlighted deep concerns about standards at Wirral hospital’s trust's maternity unit where the head of midwifery sent a letter to all staff admonishing them for a drop in standards of care, rude behaviour to patients and poor record-keeping.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “Patients have the right to expect the highest standards of care, and we expect the local NHS to take appropriate action if this is not happening.

"Greater transparency about how institutions perform is essential to improving standards.

“That is why the Secretary of State has commissioned the Nuffield Trust to make recommendations on how the quality of care is assessed in health and social care providers.

"And from next year, hospitals will publish results of the ‘friends and family test', which will ask patients if they would recommend the care they received to a friend or close member of their family.

“The information will then be used to make improvements where patients feel they are needed."

The Globe was leaked a four-page letter which had been sent to all midwives, medical and nursing staff by Linda Birch, lead nurse at Arrowe Park Hospital’s women and children's division, and raises deep concerns of “worrying trends” in care given to maternity patients.

The letter states: "The standard of care we are giving to our patients is not good enough and is deteriorating."

Among issues raised are concerns over record-keeping, "rude" staff, lack of privacy and dignity for patients, storage of medication and poor communications between patients and midwives.

A graph contained in the document shows the number of patients has fallen from 300 bookings per month in January, 2011, to 245 a month – representing fewer than 3,000 births per year.

The letter discloses the unit is losing patients to other maternity services providers "because we are rude to them, we are not giving them what they need".

And, shockingly, it warns: "At less than 3,000 births, our unit is not financially viable."

The letter continues: "We know that the overall birth rate is up locally, regionally and nationally.

"However, we are losing patients to other providers because we are rude to them, we are not giving them what they need, we are not providing good care for them and they are going away from us unhappy."

It also warns staff: "The Care Quality Commission are due to re-inspect the Trust again sometime between now and March and have indicated they will probably come to our division. They will interview staff and patients as part of that assessment."

Ms Birch wrote that there is a “worrying deterioration” in the way patients perceive staff are communicating with them: "Patients describe scenarios where they believe staff have been rude to them, abrupt with them and have been very unhelpful."

A hospital Trust spokeswoman said: "Our Wirral Women and Children’s Hospital is absolutely committed to providing the highest possible standard of care to the women who use our services. 97% of patients recently surveyed indicated they received the care that mattered to them.

"This is further demonstrated in a range of methods we use to measure the quality of patient experience and is supported by a number of reports produced by independent bodies and has been recognised by awards from the Royal College of Midwives...

"We recognise there are always areas for improvement and we take comments, concerns or feedback very seriously.

"This letter reflects the passion within our Trust to address any deviation from the very high standards we set.

"The aim of sharing information which illustrates where we could do better is to engage every single member of staff in the part they have to play in keeping our patients at the centre of everything we do."

Coincidentally, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday ordered a review to examine the merits of an “Ofsted-style” system of ratings for hospitals and care homes.

The review will look at the way in which a new ratings system could help end what he called the “crisis in standards of care” that exists in parts of the health and social care system.

Mr Hunt’s review will look in particular at how information about services can be communicated to the public, and how this information can be used to drive up standards across the system.

Patients will be asked if they would recommend the care they received to a friend or close member of their family.

NHS staff will also be asked anonymously whether they would recommend their organisation to their own families. 

The Secretary of State has asked for recommendations by the end of March, 2013