Watchdogs have urged one of London’s largest hospitals to improve its security, amid fears that babies could be mixed up or even snatched.
Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an investigation at the Royal London Hospital in July, and found that many newborns were left without identity tags.
The watchdog was left majorly concerned over the oversight, which could have led to babies being mixed up and sent home with the wrong parents, or even taken by imposters.
Equally concerning was the revelation that a number of patients in the hospital’s postnatal ward were being referred to by their bed number as opposed to their name.
Inspectors also noted instances of ‘bullying behaviour’ among staff, as well as between staff and their patients.
A key factor behind the criticisms was the lack of staff on the midwifery team. Given how Royal London Hospital is Europe’s largest standalone hospital, this has been found to be unacceptable.
The CQC’s chief inspector, Professor Sir Mike Richards said: “We were more concerned about the standard of care around maternity and gynaecology services.”
“Staffing on maternity wards was sometimes inadequately covered – but most worrying of all was the lack of a safe and secure environment for newborn babies,” he added.
While the CQC has now called for hospital administration to ‘urgently’ address the security concerns, a representative from the Royal London Hospital has moved to allay fears.
The rep highlighted the fact that the inspection was carried out back in July, and that a new identification system has been introduced for newborns.
