As part of the report, staff at OUH raised issues around capacity and workload pressures, which Baroness Amos said had been seen across “pretty much” all of the 12 trusts investigated as part of her review.
One whistleblower told the report “we can’t care for others if we can’t care for ourselves” due to insufficient staffing levels.
“There’s times that it feels really unsafe,” they added.
A recent inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) detailed stories of community midwives being asked to work overnight shifts at the John Radcliffe Hospital straight after full day shifts – sometimes exceeding 24 hours.
Despite finding that safety on OUH maternity wards “requires improvement”, the CQC boosted the hospital’s overall maternity rating to “good”.
“In terms of Oxford there was a particularity about some of these challenges,” Baroness Amos said, adding that the OUH executive team needed to address these “as a matter of urgency”.
Responding to the findings, OUH’s interim chief executive officer Simon Crowther apologised for the “often in difficult and demanding circumstances” staff referred to in the report.
“We are sorry for the toll this has taken on them, and we thank them for their dedication to the families in their care,” he said.
“Women, families and staff will be directly involved in informing, shaping and delivering the changes we make.”
“We will listen harder, act faster, and hold ourselves accountable for the improvements that women, babies, families and staff have every right to expect,” Crowther added.