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Maternity services rated among best in London

28 January 2011

Women who have their babies at Chelsea and Westminster rate our maternity care as among the best in London in an independent survey.

Women who have their babies at Chelsea and Westminster rate our maternity care as among the best in London in an independent survey.

According to the Care Quality Commission’s survey of women’s experiences of all maternity services in England, only four hospitals in London were rated better than the national average—and we were one of them.

All women who gave birth in England in February 2010 were invited to take part in the survey which asked them about all aspects of their maternity care.

The results of the survey, which were published in December, revealed that 61% of women who gave birth at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital last February rated their care as ‘Excellent’—the third best rating in London.

The Trust’s performance has improved markedly since the last survey in 2007 with our results on 16 of the 53 questions ‘significantly better’.

However, the results do demonstrate that further work is needed to improve women’s satisfaction with our maternity services, particularly in relation to postnatal care.

Maternity staff have already implemented a number of changes since the survey was carried out in February including providing a 24-hour cleaning/housekeeping presence on Labour Ward and reducing midwifery vacancy rates from 40% to 12%.

The Maternity section of the Trust website has also been revamped to include an innovative new service for women and their families—Lola the e-midwife provides advice for non-urgent queries on all aspects of midwifery care and answers to questions that women may have about their care at Chelsea and Westminster.

24-hour emergency advice continues to be available from Labour Ward on 020 3315 7841 or from NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

Now that the results of the Care Quality Commission’s national survey have been published, an action plan will be agreed in partnership with the Maternity Services Liaison Committee and other stakeholders to drive further improvements.

Contributors
George Vasilopoulos