NHS Milton Keynes says it hopes government intervention will raise public confidence in the beleagured Milton Keynes Hospital maternity unit.

The Citizen revealed on Thursday that independent hospital regulator Monitor had demanded the hiring of outside clinical advisers to speed up improvements at the unit, which has been criticised by the city's deputy coroner following deaths of two babies.

Monitor says that while the Care Quality Commission (CQC) believes the hospital is "safe" to provide services it will be keeping a close watch on the situation.

The Monitor board ruled intervention was needed to "ensure swift progress to safeguard future access to high quality maternity care by the trust's patients."

The maternity unit was criticised by deputy coroner Tom Osborne over the death of babies Romy Feast and Ebony Rose McCall-Comley. He referred to "systemic failures."

A CQC review published in January found "significant progress" was still needed on three of 12 recommendations for improvement made a year earlier and that only partial progress had been made in five of them.

The unit had still to recruit a consultant midwife and a sufficient number of additional midwives as recommended in December 2008.

Also in January Milton Keynes Council health committee acted to set up a watchdog to keep tabs on the unit after staging a special meeting where women who had given birth at the unit confronted hospital chiefs.

Hospital trust chairman Dr Walter Greaves said the hospital was already recruiting additional midwives who would be joining the team over the next two months.

He was pleased Monitor had "examined our plan with such care and we look forward to working with these experts."

He added: "I would like to reassure local women they can feel entirely safe coming to Milton Keynes Hospital to have their babies."

Dr Nicholas Hicks, the city's Director of Public Health and chief executive of NHS Milton Keynes, which is responsible for health services across the community, said it would continue to work with the hospital and other parties to "ensure patients receive the quality of care they deserve. We hope this intervention will improve public confidence in the service."

Councillor Janet Irons, chairman of the council health committee, said: "I gather the hospital is moving on the consultant midwife post and they are pushing ahead as fast as they can."

Both city MPs have already welcomed the action being taken to improve the unit.

It delivered almost 4,000 babies last year.

MP for Milton Keynes South West Dr Phyllis Starkey said Monitor's action would ensure "the problems of the past will not occur again."