Local and national maternity services are under the spotlight in a new service launched by the UK’s Healthcare Commission.

The Healthcare Commission’s new maternity website is the end product of the most comprehensive comparative review of maternity services that’s ever been carried out. Parents can search the website by hospital name, location or postcode and find the maternity units near by and compare the ratings and reports received. All maternity units were rated on key areas, such as staffing levels, facilities, quality of care, safety and cleanliness and management, and received a score out of five in 25 areas.  

“About 600,000 women give birth in England every year and choosing where and how to give birth is an important decision. We know that patients want comparative information and we are delighted to offer this new online guide to expectant mothers and their partners,” said Sue Eardley, from the Healthcare Commission.

“We hope that parents will be able to use this information to improve their experience both before, during and after the baby is born. For example, if a trust scored relatively poorly in offering recommended screening, we hope women will use this information to discuss with their midwives which tests are available at their trust.

Asked about the units that we ranked as ‘least well performing,’ Sue said, “It’s important for expectant mothers and their partners to know that if a trust is rated as ‘least well performing,’ it does not mean that a service is unsafe. If we believed any unit to be unsafe, we would take immediate action to ensure mothers and babies were protected,” she explained.

For more details, see - www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/maternity.cfm

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