Maternity services at the hospital were downgraded from good to requires improvement, following an inspection in April. 

Amanda Williams, CQC deputy director of hospitals, secondary and specialist care in the South East, said: ‘When we visited the maternity department at Worthing Hospital, we found a department that had seen an increase in demand and acuity in recent years, placing additional pressure on staff. Despite this, feedback from women about the care and support they received was consistently positive and we saw staff treating people with kindness and respect.'

While the CQC found leaders had taken actions to address concerns in a previous inspection it said progress had been slow.

Leaders were not ensuring staff consistently completed observations or responded promptly to clinical deterioration.

In addition, leaders were not tracking how long were waiting to be induced meaning they could not identify or respond to delays.

A spokesperson at University Hospital Sussex said: ‘We accept the CQC's findings and the need to continue improving our maternity services. Providing safe, high-quality care for women, babies and families is our highest priority, and we fully recognise the areas where improvements are needed.

‘Since the inspection, we have taken further action, including securing funding to strengthen staffing and recruiting specialist roles. We are also introducing enhanced support in pharmacy, perinatal mental health and bereavement care, whilst further strengthening services for vulnerable women and families.

‘We welcome the CQC's recognition of the compassionate care provided by our staff and the positive feedback received from many families. At the same time, we recognise that there is more to do and we remain committed to listening to women and families, addressing the concerns identified in the report in order to continue to improve our services.'