We understand that the recent government announcement regarding a national investigation into NHS maternity services, aimed at driving improvements, may raise questions and concerns for families in Gateshead. We want to assure our community of our commitment to providing safe, high-quality, and compassionate maternity care.
At Gateshead Health, we are incredibly proud of our hard-working staff within our maternity services. Their commitment to providing the best possible care is consistently reflected in the positive feedback we receive from service users. Our maternity services were rated ‘Good’ following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in February 2023, highlighting areas of strong performance in safety and leadership. This includes outstanding practice in supporting women with Gestational Diabetes, including those who are non-English speaking, and providing comprehensive postnatal and pre-conceptive advice. We are proud that our staff feel respected, supported, and valued, and are focused on the needs of those receiving care.
We recognise the importance of continuous improvement within maternity care across the country. We welcome this drive for enhancement and will actively participate. This means:
- Sharing best practice: We are keen to share the initiatives and practices that have led to our ‘Good’ CQC rating and the positive experiences of our service users with other trusts. We believe that by collaborating and sharing our successes, we can contribute to system-wide improvements.
- Learning from others: We are equally committed to learning from the best practices identified in other trusts and through the national investigation. We will carefully review findings and recommendations to identify any areas where we can further strengthen our services and adopt innovative approaches.
- Listening to parents and acting on feedback: Your voice matters immensely. We are listening to the feedback from pregnant women, birthing people and their families, and will act on it to continually improve our services. We have an active and responsive Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership that we work closely with to reach out into our communities to listen and co-produce our services. We also have established channels for feedback, including our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), the Friends and Family Test, and surveys, and we actively encourage you to use them. Your experiences help us understand what we are doing well and where we can do better.
We understand that giving birth is a significant and often vulnerable time for families. Be assured that at Gateshead Health, our focus remains firmly on delivering personalised, safe, and dignified care for every family. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our maternity services remain a source of confidence and excellent care for the Gateshead community.