Maternity care in Gloucestershire receives outstanding feedback in National Maternity Survey
Maternity services at Gloucestershire Hospitals have been rated very positively among the 121 acute NHS trusts that took part in the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) 2022 National Maternity Survey.
The survey results reveal the responses from women who had given birth during February 2022. A total of 228 service users in Gloucestershire completed the survey, which asked questions about all aspects of their maternity care from the first time they saw a clinician or midwife, during labour and birth, through to the care provided at home following the arrival of their baby.
It has been a very challenging year for Maternity Services and this fantastic feedback from the people who use our services is testament to our fantastic staff. I am very proud of the outstanding care that my colleagues deliver every day to women and their families in Gloucestershire, and I would like to thank them for everything they do.
Lisa Stephens, Head of Midwifery
Highlight results
We were particularly pleased to see that our Trust had better than average scores in the survey’s national benchmarked findings for the following questions:
- 81% found their partner was able to stay with them as long as they wanted (in hospital after birth) against an average score of 41%
- 75% saw their midwife as much as they wanted in the postnatal period against an average score of 63%
- 90% were given sufficient information about where to have their baby against an average score of 79%
- 95% were given enough support for mental health during pregnancy against an average of 85%
- 83% were not left alone when worried during labour and birth against an average of 73%
Our maternity services scored better than most trusts for 10 questions and somewhat better than most trusts for 12 questions.
Significant improvements had been made in people’s involvement in the decision to be induced, with 90% reporting this against the previous year’s score of 78%. We’re also pleased that 96% reported being asked by their midwife about their mental health during pregnancy, against last year’s 91%.
Although Gloucestershire Hospitals did not perform worse than expected in any areas in comparison with other trusts, we are developing plans to improve certain areas that were less positively rated: for example, fewer women (74%) reported being provided with feeding advice, which was addressed in part at the end of last year with a new infant feeding section on our website developed by our Infant Feeding Specialist Midwife.
Given the considerable challenges that our maternity services have faced over the last year, we are delighted with these results. It is wonderful to see the many areas where we are delivering great care, which is clearly valued by women and families in Gloucestershire. This feedback is exceptional and everyone delivering maternity care should feel extremely proud of these results, congratulations to everyone involved.
Deborah Lee, Chief Executive
Lisa Stephens, Head of Midwifery added: “Our high response rate is very encouraging, not only given the trend of apathy towards NHS surveys among the public but also the fact that maternity service users are asked to provide feedback at an extremely busy time in their lives!
“Everyone involved in providing maternity care very much appreciates and values feedback from the people who use our services, so I’d like to thank everyone who responded to the survey, your feedback is so important to us as we continue to develop our services to meet your needs.”
Read the survey at: