9 February 2024

A new survey by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has found that women are listened to, treated with respect and dignity, and involved in decisions about their care at the Trust that provides maternity services for women in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales.

The 2023 CQC Maternity Survey involved 121 NHS Trusts in England and received more than 25,000 responses. It is designed to build an understanding of the risk and quality of maternity services and care. The 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.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust’s (SaTH) results were better, somewhat better or much better than most other trusts in three questions. When broken down by section, in the category ‘your labour and birth’, SaTH scored ‘much better’ than most other trusts and was the highest scoring trust in its region. There were no sections in which the Trust scored worse than most others.

The questions where the Trust received a ‘better’, ‘somewhat better’ or ‘much better’ score, were:

  • Thinking about your antenatal care, were you treated with respect and dignity? (somewhat better)
  • Before you were induced, were you given appropriate information and advice on the benefits associated with an induced labour? (better)
  • Before you were induced, were you given appropriate information and advice on the risks associated with an induced labour? (much better)

SaTH received a score higher than 9/10 in 14 questions from the survey, including:

  • During your antenatal check-ups, did your midwives listen to you?
  • Thinking about your antenatal care, were you involved in decisions about your care?
  • During labour and birth, were you able to get a member of staff to help you when you needed it?
  • Thinking about your care during labour and birth, were you treated with kindness and compassion?
  • Did a midwife or health visitor askou about your mental health?

Annemarie Lawrence, Director of Midwifery at SaTH, 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.”

The full national results of the 2023 Maternity Survey, together with the technical document which outlines the survey methodology and the scoring applied to each question are available here: www.cqc.org.uk/maternitysurvey

ENDS

 

Notes for Editors:

  • 153 surveys relating to SaTH were completed as part of the 2023 CQC Maternity Survey, at a 51% response rate. Between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2023 there were 4,000 registerable births at the Trust.
  • The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, and is the main provider of acute hospital care for almost 500,000 people from Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and mid Wales. Patients come to us from Telford, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Whitchurch, Newtown and Welshpool in Powys.
  • The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust Maternity Information Hub Facebook page will be monitored between 9am-5pm, Mondays-Fridays and any messages will be responded to at the Trust’s first opportunity.