Maternity services used by families across Somerset have improved since their last inspection — but regulators say there is still more work to do on safety, responsiveness and leadership.

The Care Quality Commission has rated maternity services at Musgrove Park Hospital and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust's community midwifery services as "requires improvement" overall, following an inspection in February. The report was published on Friday, 4 September.

That represents an improvement from the previous inspection in November 2023, when maternity services were rated inadequate and the CQC issued a warning notice requiring safety improvements.

Inspectors say the issues covered by that warning notice at Musgrove Park have now been addressed, although they still found breaches of regulations relating to safe care and treatment.

For families across Wells, Shepton Mallet, Glastonbury and Street, here is what the latest report actually says.

What rating did maternity services receive?

The overall maternity rating for Musgrove Park and the trust's community midwifery service is requires improvement.

The individual ratings were:

• Safety – requires improvement
• Effectiveness – good
• Caring – good
• Responsiveness – requires improvement
• Well-led – requires improvement

In CQC terms, "requires improvement" means a service is not performing as well as inspectors expect and changes are needed. It is one level above "inadequate".

The result therefore paints a mixed picture: inspectors found evidence that care had improved considerably since 2023, but not enough for the service as a whole to be rated good.

What has improved?

The clearest change is in the overall rating itself.

In 2023, the CQC identified significant safety and leadership concerns and issued a warning notice. During the latest inspection, regulators found the issues from that warning notice relating to Musgrove Park had been addressed.

The CQC also rated both effective care and caring as good, meaning inspectors found positive evidence around clinical outcomes and the way women and families were treated.

Most of the women and family members who spoke to inspectors said they were happy with their care and felt supported by staff. Feedback collected by the Somerset Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership was also largely positive, with 21 of 28 responses between September 2025 and February 2026 containing positive feedback.

So why does it still require improvement?

The areas causing concern were safety, responsiveness and leadership.

Inspectors found that some aspects of care still did not meet expected standards and identified breaches relating to safe care and treatment.

Patient feedback also highlighted delays and problems with the physical environment.

Some women told inspectors that wards could be noisy and that privacy was difficult because patients were close together. Other feedback referred to waits in antenatal services and difficulty getting staff attention in maternity triage.

Those findings explain why the overall rating has not yet moved to good despite improvements elsewhere.

Was Musgrove under extra pressure when inspectors visited?

Yes — and that is important context.

The inspection took place between 23 and 26 February, while inpatient maternity and neonatal services at Yeovil District Hospital were temporarily closed.

During that period, women who would normally have given birth at Yeovil were instead being cared for at Musgrove Park, Dorset County Hospital and other hospitals.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust said that placed additional pressure on Musgrove's maternity service during the inspection period.

Between the start of Yeovil's temporary closure in May 2025 and the end of March 2026, 859 babies who would ordinarily have been born there were delivered elsewhere. Of those, 350 were born at Musgrove Park and 399 at Dorset County Hospital.

What happened at Yeovil?

Inpatient maternity services and the Special Care Baby Unit at Yeovil District Hospital reopened on 21 April 2026.

The services had been temporarily closed while the trust worked on safety improvements, including staffing, leadership, training, governance and senior medical cover.

At the time of reopening, the trust said additional senior paediatric consultants had been recruited, senior evening and weekend cover had been strengthened and safety monitoring and escalation arrangements had been improved.

That means the situation facing Musgrove now is different from the one inspectors saw in February, with Yeovil again providing inpatient maternity and special care baby services.

What does this mean for community midwifery?

The inspection did not look only at the hospital wards at Musgrove.

It also covered community midwifery services provided across Somerset, including the care many families receive locally during pregnancy and after birth.

Those services form part of the same overall maternity rating, so the CQC findings are relevant beyond Taunton itself.

Community midwives continue to provide antenatal and postnatal care across the county, while home birth services are also operating across Somerset.

What should pregnant women do if they are worried?

The current Somerset maternity emergency and advice line is 01823 343985.

It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for anyone who becomes unwell during pregnancy or has concerns, including worries about their baby's movements.

The trust says callers are assessed and advised according to their individual circumstances, with some asked to attend emergency maternity triage at either Musgrove Park or Yeovil.

Women are advised not to wait for a situation to become serious before seeking help.

Anyone noticing that their baby's movements have slowed, changed or stopped should contact maternity services immediately rather than waiting until the next day or their next appointment.

What happens next?

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust says improvement work is continuing following the inspection.

Chief nurse and midwife Professor Deirdre Fowler said the latest ratings reflected both the progress made since 2023 and the further work still required.

She said: "We have done a huge amount of work to improve our maternity services since the CQC inspection in November 2023."

The trust says its continuing work includes strengthening safety checks and escalation processes, staff training, care pathways, governance and safety monitoring, alongside taking feedback from women and families.

The latest CQC report therefore marks a significant step up from the inadequate rating issued after the 2023 inspection, while leaving Somerset NHS Foundation Trust with further improvements to make before its maternity services can be rated good overall.

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