As a company, Birthrate Plus care deeply about supporting our workforce and helping to provide safe and effective maternity care. So, we were thrilled to recently receive some amazing feedback from a service using our midwifery-specific workforce planning approach. Our tools supported them to not only improve their CQC rating but also show the tools working in practice, supporting escalation processes in their obstetric sites.
Please read the testimonial below:
Following a Care Quality Commission inspection in 2021, Hampshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust maternity service received a ‘Requires Improvement’ rating. One of the key findings was that the trust was not using a recognised acuity tool to assess changing patient acuity and staffing requirements. Inspectors reported that there was no consistent system in place to ensure staffing levels were aligned with the needs of women and babies, and staff confirmed that a recognised acuity tool was not being used on a day-to-day basis to support staffing decisions. The Trust was therefore required to ensure that staffing levels across the midwifery service were managed effectively to maintain safety (Regulation 18(1)).
In response, the former Head of Midwifery at HHFT contacted Birthrateplus to support the implementation of the Birthrateplus Acuity App across the service. At the time, staff had been working under significant pressure for a prolonged period and welcomed the introduction of a structured and transparent tool to support workforce planning.
The App was introduced alongside a workforce information board and regular staff updates, which demonstrated how the Trust were using the Birthrateplus workforce assessment, the Acuity App data, and professional judgement together to guide staffing decisions and maintain safe care. The team also redesigned an escalation policy to empower staff to act when the acuity data indicated that the service was under pressure.
When the service was reinspected by the Care Quality Commission in 2025, HHFT achieved a ‘Good’ rating. The inspection report highlighted that the service had implemented a clear Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for maternity clinical escalation, including a decision-making flowchart to guide staff. Staff reported feeling confident to escalate concerns to maternity leaders and felt assured that their concerns would be heard and acted upon.
During May 2025 alone, the maternity service experienced 20 escalation episodes due to high numbers of women attending the service, increased clinical acuity, or staffing pressures across both obstetric sites. In each instance, the escalation policy was activated, and appropriate actions were taken to support the service. Importantly, throughout every episode the trust maintained 100% one-to-one care in labour, and the labour ward coordinator remained supernumerary 100% of the time.
“The Birthrate Plus Acuity App has been instrumental in enabling us to evidence and monitor safe staffing in real time. Without the use of the App, we would not have had the robust data required to demonstrate this level of assurance.” Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust