Maternity care in Darlington
Download (PDF 1.13 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Darlington created a report on maternity services at Darlington Memorial Hospital (DMH). In response to patient feedback they had recieved, they decided to carry out a short survey to achieve a better understanding of what patients and their families thought about the maternity care they had received in the last year.
91 people completed the survey over a two week period. Antenatal care was rated very good by 87% of respondents and care in labour and during giving birth was rated as very good by 88% of respondents. However the post natal care was rated as very good by 65% of respondents, with 27% saying it was satisfactory.
The majority of comments in the report were positive, but there were also some negative and mixed experiences.
Healthwatch Darlington made five recommendations in the report, including :
- A review of discharge procedures to speed up the process, thus reducing the likelihood of stress for newborn and parents.
- Closer monitoring of nursing and midwifery staff by line managers and issues of negative attitude directly challenged and corrected.
- Patient first should be real and not simply a strapline. There appears to be a culture where established routines take precedence over patient expressed needs
The report does not contain a response from the provider.