The inspection was carried out to follow up on the progress of improvements of a previous visit by the regulator at which the trust was issued with a warning notice to make rapid improvements to the management and oversight of the service.   

The overall rating for Dorset County Hospital was also upgraded to good.

Neil Cox, CQC deputy director of operations in Dorset, said: ‘We were pleased to see that leaders and staff working in maternity services at Dorset County Hospital had acted on our feedback from the previous inspection and focused on the areas of the warning notice to make improvements. Women and people using the service now had a much better experience of care and treatment. Behind this was an improvement in how well-led the service was, which in turn supported staff to provide better care.'

Chief nursing officer for Dorset County Hospital and Dorset HealthCare Dawn Dawson said: ‘I am delighted that our maternity service has been rated as good by the Care Quality Commission following their recent inspection. The rating reflects the way in which our dedicated, professional, compassionate teams provide safe, high-quality care for our women and birthing people and their babies. We are not complacent and will continue to listen to feedback to build on the good practice already in place.'