CQC survey of maternity care at local hospitals shows improvement

A care Quality Commission (CQC) survey of women who gave birth at The Royal Oldham Hospital and North Manchester General Hospital in 2018 reveals a marked improvement in their experience when compared to the same survey carried out in 2017.

In 2017/18, staff at both hospitals have supported women to give birth to 8,711 babies, serving the communities of Oldham, Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton, Bury and North Manchester. 

The CQC is the national regulatory body for all health and social care services in England. Overall, the CQC survey which is undertaken at every maternity service in England, shows 12 questions with improved scores when compared to 2017’s results; this is in three categories. 

The three broad categories are ‘Labour and birth’, ‘Staff’, and ‘Care in hospital after birth’. Each question is awarded a score out of ten, with a ten representing the best possible response.

Of the three categories, the category showing most improvement at the hospitals is the ‘Care women received in hospital after the birth of their child’ category. Within that category, the new data shows the care mums received in 2018 was ‘significantly higher’ quality in four areas.

In summary, the four areas of ‘significant improvement’ include, the time it takes mums to be seen by a staff member after birth; the kindness and understanding of staff; the length of time partners and others can stay with mum after birth; and the cleanliness of the wards and rooms in the hospital.

Simon Mehigan, Divisional Director of Midwifery and Gynaecology at The Royal Oldham and North Manchester General hospitals said: “We are delighted with the findings of the new CQC maternity report for 2018, which shows our maternity services at both The Royal Oldham and North Manchester General hospitals continue to make improvements.

“I would personally like to thank our midwives, doctors and all the other staff involved in providing maternity services in our hospitals and in the community for all the hard work they have put in to make this happen. The teams have worked diligently and with passion to deliver great services.”

Mums also highly rated the information they were given after their birth, and in this area, the Pennine Acute Trust is one of the best performing in the country.

New mum Natasha Ratcliff from Middleton gave birth to baby Maya-Rose on Wednesday 6 February. Baby Maya-Rose weighs 6lb 13oz and she is doing well.

Natasha said: “The birth centre staff have all been fantastic. They have been very supportive and go the extra mile for you. I think I’ve had the best experience that I could possibly have had. It was very relaxing; the staff listened to me and really supported me throughout the birth.”

The Royal Oldham has benefitted over the last 18 months from new senior and operational management and from significant investment in strengthening its maternity workforce including employing 26 new midwives in 2018.

The CQC data is based on the survey responses of 152 women who gave birth at The Royal Oldham and North Manchester General in 2018. The response rate to the survey was 26 percent.

The Royal Oldham Hospital and North Manchester General Hospital are managed by The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which is now part of a group arrangement of hospitals and healthcare services with Salford Royal NHS Trust called the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group. Together the Northern Care Alliance oversees five hospitals and community services in Salford, Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and North Manchester.