MIDWIVES have been working for more than 24 hours at a time without sleep at a major NHS hospital, inspectors revealed today.

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report into Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust found midwives were being called to work a 12-hour night shift straight after working a day shift at John Radcliffe Hospital.

The hospital was failing to triage pregnant women on time, failing to accurately report delays to induction of labour as incidents, and asking staff to work dangerously long shifts, inspectors said.

“Staff told us this meant they were awake for more than 24 hours, which they felt impacted their wellbeing and patient safety,” said the report.

“This posed a risk, as evidence shows that fatigue can cause mistakes that lead to harm.”

On the day of the inspection, the area was very busy and one woman left the unit before being seen.

The inspectors further reported that leaders had failed to ensure adequate staffing and capacity, resulting in bereaved women being cared for in environments that did not meet required standards for privacy or dignity.

Hospital chiefs were also not reporting all delays in induction of labour as incidents, recording only 32 cases, even though 206 delays over 24 hours were identified as “red flags” according to watchdog rules.

The hospital was not treating all “red flags” as meeting the threshold for incident reporting, inspectors said.

Despite this, the CQC rated the overall maternity unit, plus another at Horton General Hospital run by the trust, as “good,” up from “requires improvement” previously.

At the John Radcliffe, maternity services safety was rated as requiring improvement.

Following the inspection, the trust assured that community midwives called to cover the unit should only be called for a four-hour period, and if the shift occurs after midnight, the midwife is entitled to a compensatory rest period the following day, the report added.

CQC deputy director of hospitals, secondary and specialist care for the south east Amanda Williams said: “Leaders acknowledged areas for improvement across both hospitals and knew they needed to tackle and embed them with more urgency.”

The trust’s interim CEO Simon Crowther said: “We take these findings very seriously and we have already begun work to address them.”