The rating of James Paget Hospital’s maternity services have changed from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement’ following the report from an unannounced inspection conducted by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last year.
Because of this outcome, the rating of the hospital overall has also been upgraded from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’. The full report from the CQC can be accessed here: James Paget Hospital HTML report for assessment LAP-01639 - Care Quality Commission
James Paget’s maternity services were inspected in January 2023 and were rated as inadequate in the domains of ‘safe’ and ‘well led’. The hospital was also issued a warning notice, with the requirement of taking immediate actions to improve maternity services and reduce the risk of harm to mothers and babies.
The CQC’s unannounced focused inspection in September 2025 was carried out to follow up on the progress of improvements, with the outcome of the overall rating for maternity services at James Paget Hospital improving from inadequate to requires improvement, alongside the ratings for how safe and well-led the service was.
The CQC has emphasised that these improvements need to be embedded and maintained in maternity services, alongside additional specified areas of improvement still required as noted through the inspection.
Jonathan Gardner, Executive Managing Director at James Paget Hospital, said “We are pleased that the commitment to putting the needs of mothers, babies and families at the core of our maternity services have been recognised through the CQC’s inspection report.”
“Since the outcome of the CQC’s inspection 2023, our maternity department and the whole hospital has responded to improve the services we provide for people giving birth and their babies. We will now focus on the additional actions we can take to continue to improve maternity care, and the wider quality and safety of our services.”
The CQC’s report notes improvements made to James Paget’s maternity leadership team, the care that women reported they had received, and the commitment towards making reasonable adjustments available for those with disabilities or communication difficulties.
The inspection also praised the close working relationship with the hospital’s local Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership in listening to people who had given birth, and making improvements based on their feedback.
The report also highlights improvements that need to be made to the maternity services’ bereavement support, dedicated triage phoneline, and record keeping processes.
Professor Lesley Dwyer, Chief Executive of the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group, said: “The latest CQC inspection shows that James Paget Hospital’s maternity team is making strong and meaningful improvements that benefit the care they provide for local people. Staff now describe leadership as visible and supportive, and women report positive experiences of care, feeling involved in decisions and being treated equitably. The service has a strong safety culture, with concerns raised confidently, incidents investigated properly, and learning shared.”
“I am particularly pleased to note that triage waits have improved significantly, with all highest priority cases seen immediately and most urgent cases reviewed by a doctor within 15 minutes.”
“While there is more to do, these improvements see the service on a solid improvement trajectory with the right leadership, skills and resources in place to be confident of delivering high quality care for the local community.”