Maternity patients feel listened to and cared for at NUH | Latest news

Maternity patients feel listened to and cared for at NUH

Women having babies at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) have confidence in the staff caring for them, according to a new survey.

A report by the Care Quality Commission – the independent regulator of health and social care in England – ranked the overall maternity care at NUH as performing well in a number of areas against some of the best Trusts in the UK.

Women were asked a range of questions about the care they received before, during and after birth. NUH has improved on five of the questions asked, since the last survey (2017).

These included how NUH scored well for the way staff:

  • Developed confidence and trust through the care they gave
  • Gave women access to a midwife on a regular basis
  • Made women feel listened to
  • Made women feel that they had confidence and trust in the midwives they saw, after they went home

NUH has Maternity units at both Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital and is one of the busiest services in the country, with just under 10,000 births over the last year. The Trust scored amongst the best in the country in three key areas, including offering choices about where a woman could have her baby(hospital, home or midwifery led unit), making partners or other supporting family and friends feel as involved in the labour and birth as they wanted to be, and taking any concerns seriously.

Sharon Dickinson, Director of Midwifery at NUH, said: “We’re delighted that our patients feel listened to, and feel confident in our care. Our Maternity teams work extremely hard to give ladies and their families the best possible patient experience, which is demonstrated in these results. We are constantly looking for new ways to make improvements to our service by listening to and acting on feedback.

“Over the last year, improvements include introducing an intercom service at City Hospital to promote confidentiality and dignity for women in labour and introduced new elective caesarian section pathways to improve experience. We have also recruited three Professional Midwife Advocates, who offer tailored advice, support and advocacy for our frontline midwives and maternity support workers, whilst supporting women in their birth choices”.

All of the areas that were assessed either saw an improvement, or remained on a par with our 2017 results. Areas that were rated as lower performing included offering women the option of where to have an antenatal and postnatal check-up, delays in discharge, and allowing partners to visit as much as they wanted during a woman’s hospital stay. 

Sharon added: “We’re pleased that our services have seen an improvement since the survey was last carried out in 2017, however, we are proactive in looking for ways to consistently improve patient experience. We have now introduced an overnight stay for partners of women in labour, and we will continue to address the comments received through this survey.”

The survey involved 129 NHS acute Trusts in England with women aged 16 and over who had live births during February 2018. The full report can be read here. 

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