As a Trust, we are committed to understanding the experience of patients accessing our maternity services. We do this in a number of different ways to make sure we learn what has worked well for you, and what we may need to do to improve our services. The following includes some of the ways that we may ask you for feedback.
- Realtime: We work with a patient experience team that visit our wards and ask you to describe your experience of care whilst in hospital
- Postal Survey: you might be contacted by Patient Perspective who collect feedback on our services. This usually happens two weeks after you are discharged from care.
- Text Message: As part of the National Friends & Family Test, you might receive a text message asking you to rate your experience of the Maternity service.
- NHS Choices & Care Opinion: You can leave a review at either site which we allow us to learn from your feedback. A member of our Patient Experience Team monitors these comments and will respond to posts.
- Patient Stories: We collect stories from patients to gain an in-depth understanding of care. We use these for learning and development purposes.
- Patient Experience e-mail: Patients can send good news stories, reflections and share other views with us at Patient.
Experience @northumbria-healthcare.nhs.uk
We are really keen to continuously learn and improve. Your experience is important to us as we are committed to getting healthcare right for our patients. If you would like to give feedback about one of our services, we would warmly welcome any views that you wish to share with us.
You can also contact the local Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP):
We currently have a Facebook page that is public and a closed group that is just for service users (so no professionals unless they are using maternity services). We are working on a website so will let you know once it is up and running.
Northumbria MNVP Facebook page
Our Professional Midwifery Advocates are a group of midwives who work within Northumbria Healthcare Trust who are here to support you with birth choices. They are experienced practicing midwives who have completed further training with the aim to support and facilitate the practices and development of midwives to ensure safety for women and their babies in addition to receiving a high standard of care.
PMAs aim to ensure women and families receive guidance and information about the right type of care, in the right care setting.
They are here to support women and families as well as to give sound professional advice.
They are also here if you have concerns about your care, you and/or your midwife may contact a PMA.
Women are able to talk to a PMA in confidence with any issues relating to practice care provision.
They can meet with you and your midwife and/or one of the consultants in order to help you achieve the birth you want by acting as a resource and to assist in discussing your birth choices. They will provide evidence-based information to help you achieve your goal and ensure all aspects of your planned care are explained thoroughly.
You can contact the PMA team via e-mail at PMA2