Wide Variations in NHS Maternity Care
November 23, 2010
Posted by:Catherine Bell
New data from the NHS Information centre shows that maternity care varies markedly both across the country and within regions. Is this simply demographics or a potential cause for concern?
Statistics show that the access to ante-natal care and episiotomies are a postcode lottery, whilst rates of caesareans are significantly higher in some areas than others. For example, the percentage of women who had a caesarean at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London was, at 31.4 per cent, almost twice as high as that at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust in Shropshire (15.8 per cent). Tim Straughan, Chief Executive of the NHS Information Centre has said that NHS Trusts "need to examine closely the full range of reasons why their rate is different from the national average of about one caesarean delivery for every four deliveries". Whilst some of the variation in caesarean rates may be attributed to differences in approach or perhaps even socio-economic factors, in some cases the breadth of variation may point to underlying problems with clinical decision making.
As a medical negligence solicitor, I understand that doctors can legitimately take different approaches. However, broad variation between hospitals or regions raises concerns that some mothers may be receiving inadequate care or else may not have been sufficiently advised regarding the options available to them.