DAILY weather forecasts are being given to maternity staff in Musgrove Park Hospital as they start their shifts because their building’s roof leaks so much.

Much of the hospital still dates to when the Americans built it in the Second World War, and the age of the properties makes them difficult to maintain and for staff to work safely and productively.

The Care Quality Commission has given Musgrove’s maternity unit a rating of ‘requires improvement’.

Improvements have been planned, with a brand new maternity and paediatric centre promised by the Government, but delayed until 2033.

MP Gideon Amos has been lobbying the Department for Health and Social Care to bring forward the new maternity unit.

Now, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (SNFT) chief operating officer Andy Heron has revealed how maternity staff are shown a weather forecast when they do their daily shift handovers.

Mr Heron said: “It is amazing what staff achieve there, given the constraints of the estate.

“The morning handover meetings between doctors and nurses includes the weather forecast, because, in spite of endless works on the roof, we do get leaks regularly in our maternity unit.”

But, SNFT children, young people, and families director Leanne Ashmead said: “There is an awful lot of pride among the staff in those buildings.

“We are never complacent about the things that we still need to work on.

“We know recruitment is difficult, and we have felt it very deeply.

“We had a very big recruitment drive last year and had lots of applicants.

“By next year, we will have six new paediatricians starting in Yeovil.”

Delays to upgrading the Musgrove Park estate have also seen the postponement of other projects, including a second multi-storey car park to provide additional parking spaces for patients and staff.