Watford Hospital suspends private obstetric service

The change will take effect next month, after the CQC inspected the hospital last week. Twenty-seven women due to give birth in the coming months were expecting to use the service.

In a statement released by the trust, chief nurse Tracey Carter said: “As is common with visits of this type, the CQC team has given us some immediate feedback and, as a result, we have made changes to the way we do some things, including how we triage patients using our [accident and emergency] department at Watford Hospital. 

“We have also chosen to suspend our small private obstetric service – allowing our maternity team to focus on our NHS patients.”

She said the trust was in process “the process of contacting the 27 women [affected by the change] to discuss… arrangements with them and, as appropriate, to refund any payments they have made to the hospital”. 

She added: “We will also apologise for the inconvenience caused as a result

“In line with their process, the CQC will issue a formal report of their visit within the next couple of months and we will respond to their findings at that time.”