MATERNITY service workers across Somerset are “delighted” to have received excellent feedback from families they have cared for across the county.

The NHS Patient Survey Programme asked new mums questions about antenatal care, labour and birth, and postnatal care.

The survey results placed Yeovil Hospital and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust as the best in the south west for antenatal check-ups and for the care they provided at patients’ homes after birth.

Yeovil Hospital was also named the best in the region for the care it provided during pregnancy.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust runs Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and other minor injury units, community hospitals, specialist mental health services, and other healthcare facilities.

Sallyann King, interim director of midwifery at the two trusts, said: “We are absolutely delighted by these results, and they show us we are getting a lot of things right when it comes to the care we provide.

“I am exceptionally proud of our maternity teams, and this is a wonderful reflection of all their hard work.

“The pandemic has thrown many challenges at us over the last couple of years so to see this feedback from our families has been great recognition for midwifery in Somerset.”

Somerset County Gazette: 'To see this feedback from our families has been great recognition for midwifery in Somerset.''To see this feedback from our families has been great recognition for midwifery in Somerset.'

When they responded to the survey, mothers provided feedback detailing the best aspects of their care and the areas they thought could be improved.

Sallyann added: “Many families also described the well-known difficulties with partners being unable to attend some scans during the height of the pandemic due to social distancing – something which our NHS trust has worked hard to address with the addition of larger scanning rooms at the unit in Taunton.

“Overall, we are pleased with the feedback that we’ve heard from families, which is a real testament to the outstanding care our midwives and maternity care colleagues provide.

“We recognise that there are areas that we can do better, and we’ll use the findings from this survey to make improvements.”

The results from the NHS Patient Survey Programme are used by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to monitor NHS trusts in England.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital are both rated ‘Good’ by the CQC.

The ratings the CQC can give are Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, and Inadequate.