Plain Text | Contact Us & Feedback | A to Z of Services                          

                                            




You are here  : Home Press 2009 Press Releases 2009 Experience of mothers ‘significantly better’ at St Peter’s Hospital
Experience of mothers ‘significantly better’ at St Peter’s Hospital
Written by Communications Team   

Results just in from a survey of maternity services at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey show a significant improvement in the experience of mothers compared with two years ago.

Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust commissioned the identical surveys in 2007 and again in July 2009. New mothers were asked a wide range of questions about their experience before, during and after the birth.


Eileen Nolan, Associate Director of Maternity Services, said: “The results from the survey in 2007 were disappointing. It was clear there were many things we had to do to improve the experience of women coming through the service, so we listened to their comments carefully and used them to plan a programme of change.” “Over the last two years the entire maternity services team have worked very hard to make things better and we have introduced numerous positive changes. These include the recruitment of a maternity matron, 20 new midwife posts, a dedicated maternity housekeeper and a team of infant feeding nursery nurses. We have also set-up a 24-hour midwife-led triage service, refurbished the antenatal clinics waiting area and constructed an additional en-suite birthing room. In addition, we have improved our postnatal care and now run several postnatal drop-in clinics throughout the local community.”

The changes have proved to be very successful and the most recent survey showed a vast improvement in the experience of women. In particular, 91.8% of new mothers rated their care in labour and birth from good to excellent compared with 79.6% in 2007. More mothers felt they had been involved in discussions about their care and given a choice in decisions like whether to have scans and tests and where to have their baby. Significantly better scores were also given for the cleanliness of the wards, bathrooms and toilets and the quality of food.

Eileen said: “The latest survey results are very encouraging and it is great to see our changes have worked. For me, one of the most important areas we have improved in is communication and treating each patient with the respect and dignity they deserve.”

“We have further improvements planned for this year and we want all women coming through the service to have a positive experience at St Peter’s Hospital. We are determined to keep listening to mother’s feedback and putting new ideas into practice.”

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 18 August 2009 13:11 )