Shrewsbury and Telford hospital trust welcomes annual maternity survey results
A hospital trust has welcomed the results of an annual survey of its maternity patients.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) survey covers hospitals across the country – including Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which was the subject of the damning Ockenden report into its maternity services in 2022.
SaTH manages both Princess Royal Hospital in Telford as well as Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The latest survey results, which involve a number of questions across three broad sections, come from 153 patients surveyed at SaTH between April and August 2023.
In one section, 'labour and birth', the trust was found to be 'much better than expected' when its results were compared to other hospital trusts.
In the sections of 'staff caring for you' and 'care in hospital after birth' the trust was 'about the same' when the responses were set against those from other trusts.
Across none of the 24 sections was SaTH considered worse than other trusts.
The national survey highlights women’s views on all aspects of their maternity care from the first time they see a clinician or midwife, through to the care provided at home in the weeks following the arrival of their baby.
Annemarie Lawrence, Director of Midwifery at SaTH, said the results of the survey were an important, independent assessment of where the trust is doing well, and where it needs to get better.
She said: “We welcome the annual CQC Maternity Survey as it gives us independent feedback about where our service users think we are providing outstanding care, and areas in which we need to improve.
“We are continuing with focus and commitment to listen to families, putting them at the heart of the care we provide.
"We are co-producing an action plan alongside our local Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) with a particular focus on feeding and increasing awareness of mental health support postnatally, which have been highlighted as areas where service users’ experience could improve.”
Amy Walsh, MNVP Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin Co-Lead, said: “The results of the 2023 CQC Maternity Survey echo much of the feedback we receive from service users and highlight the improvements made, particularly in the area of communication.”
Emily Evans, MNVP Co-Lead, said: “The MNVP remains dedicated to providing both challenge and support to the SaTH, ensuring improvements are driven by service user feedback. We look forward to co-producing an action plan to address key areas highlighted within the report.”
However, across the country as a whole the picture showed a decline in experiences over the past five years.
The CQC said that out of the 26 questions only one has shown a 'statistically significant upward trend', while 11 showed a significant downward trend, and 14 remained the same.
But the CQC said there were improvements compared to last year.
A statement from the watchdog said: "Results relative to 2022 show signs of improvement in many areas. Of the 54 evaluative questions compared year on year, between 2023 and 2022, 38 showed significant improvement, including all questions in the area of antenatal care."
