New national maternity review highlights Poole Hospital’s commitment to giving women choice
New national maternity review highlights Poole Hospital’s commitment to
giving women choice
Patient choice and staffing levels were amongst the areas commended in a new independent review of maternity services at Poole Hospital. The Healthcare Commission’s Maternity Services Review, published today, found that St Mary’s Maternity Unit at Poole Hospital is one of the ‘better performing’ units in the South West region.
The review is the most comprehensive study of NHS maternity services ever conducted, and assessed maternity units nationwide against 25 key areas. Poole’s Hospital’s maternity unit achieved an above-average score in nine of these areas.
The review highlighted the choice available for mums-to-be at Poole Hospital. The unit’s antenatal care scored highly on the percentage of women who were able to attend antenatal classes at a time and date that suited them, and the number of antenatal appointments offered. Continuity in antenatal care was also commended, reflecting the service’s commitment to providing every patient with the ongoing support of one midwife before and after the birth.
The extent of choice available to women whilst in labour also scored highly in the review. In 2007 the Hospital opened a second pool in its Haven Birthing Suite; the suite now contains a total of five comfortable, non-clinical delivery rooms in addition to traditional delivery wards. Mums-to-be are also given the choice of having their baby at home with support from the maternity service if it is safe for them to do so.
The staffing of the service was another area in which St Mary’s Maternity Unit performed well. Staffing levels and the integration of support workers both achieved above-average scores, reflecting the Hospital’s commitment to the quality of its staff and the development of support staff.
Penny Jarvis: Associate Director of Operations for Women’s and Children’s Health, said: “I am very pleased that the dedication of our maternity staff and their appreciation of individual women’s wishes and needs have been recognised in this review.
“We have a very conscientious group of people with the skills to meet a wide range of maternity and obstetric needs at Poole. These range from natural childbirth at home or in our low-risk birthing suite to extremely high-risk cases that require very skilled medical intervention and possibly intensive care for the infant upon delivery. We recognise the need for a more modern building for our services, which is now part of the Foundation Trust’s plans. I am confident that when we have this we will be able to achieve an even better rating for our services. ”
Date: 25 January 2008