King's Mill hospital sees positive results in maternity survey

Patients attending the maternity unit at King’s Mill Hospital can expect high standards of care, after the unit received positive scores in the annual CQC Maternity survey.

The CQC Maternity survey is sent to all women and birthing people who were aged 16 and over at the time of delivery and gave birth at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, which runs the hospital.

Colleagues working on the unit have been working hard throughout the past year to ensure a positive experience for all who are admitted to the unit, and in doing so, they have greatly improved on the previous year’s results.

The trust saw higher than average scores in most areas, coming in at number 2 out of 34 Trusts surveyed for antenatal care, and scoring highly in questions relating to mental health support.

Gemma Boyd, Consultant Midwife and Professional Midwifery Advocate, said: “The maternity team at Sherwood Forest Hospitals are passionate about making sure that the voice of families is at the centre of everything we do, and we work hard to make sure that any improvements we make are in partnership with the birthing people we serve.” 

In working to ensure that women and birthing people are listened to, the team have introduced a training session on understanding the experiences of women and birthing people and trauma informed care. Colleagues on the unit said they found the training beneficial in identifying what they are doing right, and which areas they could improve in.

The team have also been working to place the right midwives in the right place to care for families when they need it, and to support this goal 24 newly qualified midwives were recruited to the Trust between October 2023 and October 2024.

Hayley Hill, in a new role as Planned Care Lead Midwife, has led multiple improvements to the service. These include improving how the unit shares information on how an induction of labour works, and what women and birthing people should expect during their stay as an inpatient. This has led to improved CQC results relating to information sharing.

She has been instrumental in introducing a non-hormonal method of induction (of labour), which has shown to have a positive impact on patient experience and outcomes for babies, addressed patient feedback by amending pain relief options in early labour, and has moved essential information relating to induction of labour and elective caesarean section appointments to an easily accessible digital app

The Lime Green infant feeding team provide specialist one-on-one infant feeding support, and in response to feedback they have made their services available on wards every morning.

The Professional Midwifery Advocate team introduced a twice weekly Birth Afterthoughts Clinics. The team currently see five families per week and are piloting taking the clinic to parents in their home to make it easier for families who cannot easily travel to the hospital.

The number of drug trolleys available at any time on the unit have also increased so that women and birthing people do not have to wait when they are in urgent need of pain relief, and recliner chairs have been introduced at every bedside. The introduction of the chairs is essential in supporting families to be together at such an important time, and you can read more about this initiative here: Maternity ward welcomes supporters overnight thanks to new chairs - Sherwood Forest Hospitals.

Paula Shore, Director of Midwifery & Divisional Director of Nursing for Women & Children’s at the Trust, said: “I am proud to see the high standards of compassionate and safe care we strive for reflected in the results of this survey. We are constantly looking to listen to birthing people and improve our service, working across all teams to make sure we meet the needs of the families we serve now, and in the future.”

The 2025 Maternity survey will be launched this April, and those who gave birth in January or February of this year will be invited to give feedback. If you are invited to take part, you will receive a letter with information on how to complete the survey online or on your phone. If you prefer to complete the survey on paper, a paper survey will be sent out at a later date.

Participation will not affect your care in any way. The survey is confidential, and your responses will not be shared with our staff.