Gateshead hospital's maternity service 'best in the country'

One of the North East's hospitals has been rated as having the best maternity services in the country by families who have used it.

The maternity services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead have had the best scores in the Care Quality Commission's 2024 survey of patients, closely followed by those at the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust. Both were named in an "outliers report" produced by the CQC and highlighting eight trusts in England with the best feedback.

The North East's three other leading hospital trusts - the Northumbria Healthcare, Newcastle Hospitals and County Durham and Darlington are all considered close to the average, according to the survey.

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Hospital bosses south of the Tyne have welcomed the news. Dr Gill Findley, chief nurse and midwifery lead at the Gateshead Health trust said: "We are absolutely thrilled by this vote of confidence from the families we care for. This incredible achievement is a testament to the tireless efforts of our dedicated midwives, doctors, and support staff, who are all committed to providing compassionate and tailored care to every mother and family we serve.

“I am particularly pleased with the excellent feedback on communication, empathy and empowerment. Almost all of respondents had positive feedback on how our staff respect and empower them throughout their pregnancy, birth and after care. That's the essence of exceptional maternity care, to make sure that people are supported every step of the way. I am delighted to know from our patients that they think we're achieving that level of compassionate care for them."

The trust has improved year-on-year - though in 2023 it was already marked out as a leading maternity unit. Dr Findley added: "We work closely with other Trusts and partners across the region and could not achieve what we do without them – with our partners, we share learning and best practice across Trusts to make the North East and North Cumbria a great place to have a baby.”

Head of midwifery Karen Parker added that the feedback was "incredibly valuable" when it came to directing further improvements. She said that, despite the positive, the trust was always aware of areas where more could be done.

Ms Parker said: "While we're proud of our achievements, we know that there are areas to improve, and unfortunately due to our estate, there are limits to the number of births we can support. While we try to accommodate everyone who wants to have their baby with us, we can’t always do so. We do however work closely with other units locally and we know that our colleagues across the North East and North Cumbria also strive to provide an exceptional level of care."

Earlier this year, Gateshead Health's chief executive Trudie Davies told of how she hoped the highly-thought of maternity services would help make the case for investment in a new maternity unit.

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board interim chief nurse Ann Fox said: "This is fantastic recognition for the Gateshead Health team from the very people they have cared for. The team has worked hard to listen, communicate, and build trust with the women they supported in their pregnancy and birth. They should be proud of the improvements they have made and the care they provide to women and their families at a most precious time.

“We will be looking at and sharing the feedback from these surveys across the region so that we can learn together and improve women's experiences further."

At South Tyneside and Sunderland, being treated with respect and dignity were among the areas where new parents scored the trust's maternity services as significantly above average. Jane Anderson, director of midwifery at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS trust said: "It is always reassuring to have such positive feedback from the people who use our maternity services and for the Trust to be recognised amongst the best in the NHS.

"These results show continued improvement in people’s experiences and are testament to the very dedicated staff we have here in South Tyneside and Sunderland. Our community midwives and hospital teams work incredibly hard to make sure people have a good experience with us during such an important time in their lives.

“We know we still have further work to do to achieve excellence in all aspects of our maternity care and this feedback is an important part of helping us to keep learning and improving."

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) conducted a maternity survey between 18 April and 18 July 2024 inviting people aged 16 or above who have had a baby to respond to a series of questions. The full report is available at cqc.org.uk/maternitysurvey.