Maternity services at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust have been praised by parents in the 2023 National Maternity Survey, which has now been published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The RUH was found to score better than other Trusts in a number of areas, and there was particular praise from parents for the support they received from staff, especially around how they felt involved in decisions around antenatal and postnatal care.
The RUH team was also praised for the mental health support provided to women and birthing people and for treating parents with dignity and respect.
Those surveyed also said they felt listened to, were given plenty of opportunities to ask questions and felt their concerns were taken seriously.
The survey, which went to those who gave birth in February 2023, looked at the whole experience of maternity care, from antenatal appointments through to giving birth and postnatal care. There were no areas where the RUH scored worse than other trusts who took part in the survey.
Zita Martinez, Director of Midwifery at the RUH, said, “This is really impressive feedback and testament to the continuous hard work and commitment of our staff.
“The people we care for are at the heart of everything we do so it’s always great to hear how they feel treated with kindness and compassion by our maternity teams and fully involved in decisions around their antenatal and postnatal care.
“We know we can still improve further though and will continue to proactively ask parents for their views on our maternity service to ensure we continue to provide a positive experience for all new and expectant parents.”
The survey covers births at the RUH’s birthing centre and in our community birth centres in Chippenham and Frome.
On average, approximately 4,500 babies are born each year at the RUH and in our community birth centres.
You can find the full maternity survey report for the RUH on the CQC website.