The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has today (Thursday 10 February) published results of its national maternity survey – with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) identified as performing ‘better’ than other NHS Trusts in two key areas.
The maternity teams – who provide care for more than 7,500 women and their families every year – were recognised for the choices given to women about where to have their baby, as well as for feeding support provided during evenings, nights, and weekends.
OUH also scored ‘somewhat better’ than other Trusts for the overall section ‘the start of your care in your pregnancy’, which covers the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Horton General Hospital.
While OUH ranked ‘about the same’ as other Trusts in 47 questions, there was one that was rated as ‘somewhat worse’ than other Trusts: ‘were you given the information or explanations you needed, following the birth of your baby?’.
The annual survey asks women about their experiences of care across the pregnancy pathway from antenatal care, labour and birth, and postnatal care.
A total of 264 women who gave birth at OUH in February 2021 filled out the questionnaire, up from 246 responses for the previous survey in 2019. There was no survey in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alison Cuthbertson, Director of Midwifery at OUH, said: “We are really pleased to see that women who recently used our maternity services felt supported and involved in decisions about their care, particularly for those at the start of their pregnancy journey.
“Clearly there are still areas where there are opportunities for us to improve and the information provided by birthing families in this this survey will form the basis of an action plan so we can build on the positives and make improvements where we need to.
“Thank you to all our dedicated Maternity staff for the compassionate care they continue to provide at what has been a time of unprecedented challenges.
“The last couple of years have been years of constant change but, together, we have adapted to COVID-19 restrictions, adaptions to practice, and learnt new skills to deliver care in the best possible way.
“We want every woman to experience excellent personalised care throughout their journey to parenthood. We know the pandemic has caused anxiety for them and their families, and we acknowledge the impact that restrictions and change in services have had on the overall experience of maternity care – thank you for all your understanding and support at this time.
“Thank you also to all the women and their families who have taken the time to provide their feedback and let us know about their experience at OUH.”
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) is one of the largest acute teaching trusts in the UK, with a national and international reputation for the excellence of its services and its role in patient care, teaching and research.
The Trust supports world-leading research programmes in cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through its designation as one of the UK’s five comprehensive biomedical centres. It works in close partnership with the University of Oxford and is a leading centre for cancer, neurosciences, diabetes, genetics and many other fields. Research themes of particular strength are: cancer, cardiovascular science, diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, infection and immunology, musculoskeletal science, neuroscience and reproduction and development.
This brings together academic research expertise with clinical teams to translate medical science into better healthcare treatments. Our patients benefit from world-class discovery and innovation supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, a partnership between the Trust and the University of Oxford, funded by the National Institute for Health Research.
The Trust employs over 12,000 staff and consists of four hospitals: the Churchill Hospital, John Radcliffe Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. On 1 October 2015 the Trust was awarded Foundation status and became Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. www.ouh.nhs.uk
