The Healthcare Commission’s nation-wide report into maternity services has rated South Warwickshire NHS Hospital Trust - which runs the hospital - as one of the country’s “better performing”.

It has praised the hospital’s high standards of post-natal care, including the support given to mothers in caring for their baby once they have been discharged.

Top marks were awarded for the trust’s very low maternal illness rates and for the amount of choice women have in deciding how and where they want to give birth.

But although most of the 25 performance indicators were graded as acceptable, the trust was rated as ‘poor’ for its level of staffing and the amount of training staff receive.

The trust’s head of nursing and midwifery Helen Walton said: “We are delighted that this review confirms that we are delivering a good, very safe service, and offering excellent choice to women during birth.

“That we were rated as ‘better performing’ while having below average staffing levels is testimony to the fantastic hard work of our maternity staff.

“We believe we would have achieved a “best performing” rating had it not been for a low score connected to our staffing levels and training opportunities.

“The great news for women in this area is that we are addressing this issue by introducing additional midwives and support healthcare workers immediately, with more to follow over the next three years. We also hope to deliver further improvements in our antenatal services and to work more closely with women to raise our natural birth and breastfeeding rates.”

The Courier reported last week that another 18 full-time midwives need to be recruited to the hospital in line with NHS regulations.

It currently employs 115 full and part-time midwives.

At a Trust board meeting on January 10, members agreed to a four-year investment plan in the maternity department, which will start with the recruitment of three midwives and two healthcare assistants this month.

Director of operations and nursing Jane Ives spoke of the ‘lack of one-to-one care’ at Warwick and added: “Over the last two years, the breast-feeding rate and normal birth rates have all fallen. Evidence tells us that this is in direct correlation with the inability to provide one midwife to one patient.”