
Maternity services
Our hospitals provide maternity care for more than 8,000 women every year
Every year thousands of women give birth in our hospitals and community, and we want each and every one of those women to receive excellent care and have a positive experience with us. In the majority of cases this is happening, but not always and we know that isn’t good enough.
We are committed to making improvements to your maternity services and, while we know there is more to do, we know that we are on the right path to improvement. Colleagues across the Trust are working hard every day to create the best environment and to provide the best care for babies, mothers and families in our hospitals.
Through our Maternity Improvement Programme (MIP), we have reintroduced our Home Birthing service, significantly increased staff numbers, feedback from patient surveys has improved and is consistently positive. We have also heavily invested in our services, launching a new Fetal Medicine Unit and Neonatal Unit.
In 2023, the independent regulator of healthcare in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) looked at maternity services at Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital and increased the rating at both sites from inadequate to requires improvement. In our latest inspection report, published in March 2025, the CQC recognising further improvements and increased our ‘effective’ rating to good, having previously been requires improvement.
Our maternity services are also subject to an Independent Maternity Review, led by Donna Ockenden, which began in September 2022 and is currently expected to be completed in 2026. The review was established to listen to women and families, to fully understand their experiences, and to address concerns raised about the quality and safety of our maternity services. The review will make recommendations to help improve safety, quality and equity of our care.
We continue to work hard to make the necessary and sustainable improvements to our maternity services for our communities and also for our staff. We are working closely with Donna Ockenden and listening to family feedback to create services that our patients can rely on.
Below is a timeline of some of the key things that we have done to improve our maternity services so far.
As of the end of the day on 31 May 2025, the Independent Maternity Review will be closed to new cases in line with the Terms of Reference for the Review. You can read more about the latest on the Review and next steps on the IMR website.
We still want to hear your reviews and experiences of care, and you can do this directly by emailing nuhnt.postimr@nhs.net or through the usual routes such the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALs).