Patients have again praised our maternity teams for their good care in a national CQC survey.

The survey highlights the high level of care given by our maternity teams at the Cumberland Infirmary, West Cumberland Hospital and Penrith hospital. This follows on from the maternity teams recent CQC inspection rating of good - with some actions for the service to address.

In 2023, the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) National Maternity Survey was sent to all women who gave birth in February last year. The survey asked patients about their experiences of care across the pregnancy pathway from antenatal care, labour and birth and postnatal care. 146 responses were received (a response rate of 48.83 percent).

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust’s results were better than other trusts for nine questions and in line with other trusts for 45 questions.

  • Patients said that NCIC is much better than other Trusts at asking about their mental health; for giving advice on the risks associated with an induced labour; the opportunity to ask questions about their labour and birth and for being treated with kindness and understanding after the birth.

The results rated the Trust as:

  • ‘much better’ than other trusts at asking women about their mental health,  with a score of 10/10.
  • ‘better’ than others when it came to staff giving women advice on the risks associated with an induced labour with a score of 8.5/10;
  • ‘better’ when it came to women having the opportunity to ask questions about their labour and birth 7.4/10;
  • ‘better’ when it came to getting help from staff after the birth if needed 8.4/10 and
  • ‘better’ for being treated with kindness and understanding after the birth 9.0/10.

Amanda Kennett, associate director of midwifery at NCIC, said: “We continue to improve year on year and to see patients giving such positive feedback is fantastic. We are very pleased with the results of this year’s survey.

“I would like to thank our teams who work really hard to make sure that our patients feel safe, supported and well looked after before, during and after labour.

“Following a Care Quality Commission inspection last year, our maternity services were rated good. While we are pleased with the results, we are not complacent and will be examining the results further to see where we can improve for the future.”

Commenting on the survey, Jill Foster, chief nurse at NCIC, said: “We are proud of our team for the dedication, professionalism and caring attitude that they show each day and this has been reflected in the results of the CQC’s national maternity survey.”

The full results can be seen, from today at https://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/surveys/maternity-survey