Survey finds women confident and informed at Guy's and St Thomas'

A national survey published today highlights improvements in maternity care at Guy’s and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.

The survey by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows the Trust has improved in seven out of 17 categories compared to the last maternity survey carried out in 2010.

The most significant improvements include:

• involving mothers in decisions during labour and birth
• increasing mothers’ confidence and trust in staff during labour and birth
• giving new mothers the information they need after the birth.

The survey also compares Guy’s and St Thomas’ to 137 other trusts in England. Guy’s and St Thomas’ is performing as well as other trusts in almost all categories, and is significantly better at giving mothers a choice about the location of antenatal check-ups.

Marie McDonald, joint clinical director for women's services, says: “It’s encouraging to see improvements in areas related to keeping women informed and giving them a choice about their care and the care of their baby.

“The results of the survey show women have confidence in our maternity services and know they can trust our staff.”

The survey has highlighted two areas for improvement.

These include the time it takes for staff to respond to call bells and women being left alone at a time when it worried them. In both these areas, Guy’s and St Thomas’ performance declined compared to the last maternity survey in 2010.

However, since the survey was carried out in February this year the Trust has made improvements.

Marie McDonald says: “We have listened to women and introduced ‘rounding’ which means maternity support workers proactively go around the wards asking women if they need anything.

“We have also employed more midwives so we can have an extra midwife on every shift and these measures have helped us improve both the areas highlighted. Our aim is always to deliver care that is compassionate, safe and meets women’s needs.”

Approximately 6,300 women give birth at the maternity unit in St Thomas’ Hospital, or at home, supported by staff.

The full results of the survey are available on the Care Quality Commission website www.cqc.org.uk.