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Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER
Published: 7 December 2007

Mothers criticise maternity service

NEW mothers rate St Bartholomew’s Hospital as the worst in the country for giving care throughout labour.
The Healthcare Commission survey, which questioned 26,000 women across Britain, found Bart’s Hospital and the London NHS Trust in West Smithfield to be seriously under-performing.
The survey of maternity services also found that 44 per cent of women at the hospital gave birth in stirrups – which is against guidelines, 18 per cent said they were not treated with kindness and understanding and 10 per cent said the wards were not clean enough.
Ken Riley, director of nursing and quality at Bart’s Hospital and the London NHS Trust said: “The Healthcare Commission survey into NHS maternity services identifies some key areas where Barts and The London NHS Trust needs to improve. We believe that women using our maternity service should always be treated with respect and kindness, cared for in a clean environment and given all the information they need. Clearly there are women who feel we are not meeting those needs and we must do better.
“In late 2006 the trust, in partnership with Tower Hamlets Primary Care NHS Trust, commissioned an independent review into maternity care and has already begun to implement recommendations based on its findings. These include employing more midwives, improving the birth environment and introducing a staff development programme to encourage personalised care. The trust has also worked with the primary care trust to open a new birthing centre that will offer women a first-rate midwife-led service. We believe these changes are already improving care for the 4,000 mothers who use our service every year and we expect this will be reflected in next year’s Healthcare Commission survey.
“The trust cares for mothers with some of the most complex medical problems and has higher survival rates for perinatal and neonatal babies than the national average.”

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