Kingston Hospital has moved to reassure expectant mothers after Panorama exposed a chronic shortage of midwives at some London hospitals.

The hospital was not mentioned in the BBC report but issued a statement on its website to calm fears from mums.

A statement by Anna Dellaway, head of midwifery, and Florence Wilcock, a consultant obstetrician, said the hospital had the lowest vacancy rate in London with only 5 per cent of posts unfilled.

They said: “We would like to personally reassure women our maternity unit is a safe place for you to give birth.”

The hospital said it had increased consultant cover from 60 hours a week to 98 hours, recruited 30 extra midwives in the past year, and increased the number of delivery rooms by two from eight to 10.

It also said it had introduced a 24-hour triage facility to give expectant mums a full and immediate assessment on arrival.

The issue of staffing in the maternity ward has been a long-running one with the hospital forced to fight off scares as it markets its wards to potential mothers.

Two years ago an anonymous letter from midwives sent to the Surrey Comet raised serious concerns about overstretched maternity staff struggling against understaffing.

The hospital categorically denied patient safety was at risk but its chief executive Kate Grimes was taken to task by Kingston councillor Mary Reid over its continued failure to reach the Government recognised ratio of patients to midwives.

It had improved to one nurse for every 36 mothers but was still short of the recommended one to 28 ratio.

The hospital has since announced cost-cutting measures to axe 214 midwife and nurse positions over five years.

q For an in-depth report on the maternity ward see next week’s Surrey Comet.