CQC national maternity inspection programme evaluation
The inspection programme itself was evaluated by THIS Institute, together with RAND Europe. We gathered insights from CQC inspectors, from staff managing the programme, and staff in inspected maternity units. We also reviewed internal and external inspection programme documents, including anonymised inspection notes and reports, and carried out a literature review of the evidence for regulation with a particular focus on inspection.
We identified what went well and what went less well, and our analysis makes key recommendations on how to improve inspections in the future.
We also co-designed with staff and women, birthing people and birth partners what good safety culture looks like in maternity services, producing a learning resource that will be helpful in building shared understanding.
Given a history of failure to evaluate maternity improvement programmes, this work adds significant value about how to do better.