MATERNITY units at Hampshire hospitals have given been praised in new research.

The 2017 Maternity Survey, part of the patient survey programme co-ordinated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), asked new mums to answer questions about different aspects of their care and treatment.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) came in for praise when asked if their birthing partners were involved as much as they wanted them to be and if staff spoke in a way they could understand.

The CQC report shows how Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust scored for each question in the survey compared with the range of results from all other trusts that took part.

For each question, responses are converted into scores on a scale of zero to 10, with higher scores indicating more positive responses.

Hampshire Hospitals scored 9.7 out of 10 when mums on the question of partners’ involvement and 9.5 out of 10 when mums were asked if they were spoken to in a way they could understand.

The results also show Hampshire Hospitals, which runs Basingstoke hospital, Royal Hampshire County in Winchester, and Andover War Memorial, scored better than most other trusts that took part in the survey in terms of mums feeling their concerns were taken seriously during labour and birth.

Alex Whitfield, chief executive of HHFT said: “I’m delighted that new mums are happy with the way they are spoken to by our amazing maternity staff and that birthing partners are able to play as big a role as women want them to.

“It is fantastic to know that the dedication and teamwork shown by the staff in our maternity team is making a real difference to women and their families.”

“We are always striving to improve and will use the survey results alongside other feedback to look at how we can make things even better for new mums.”

Go to www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RN5/survey/5 to view the full survey results.