Princess Royal Hospital

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

We looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

At our last assessment, this key question was not rated. At this assessment we rated caring as good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved partners in their care.

Women received care that was person‑centred and were given information and advice about their health, prenatal and postnatal care. Women told us during the assessment that they felt well supported by the multi-disciplinary team and felt they were involved in the assessment of their needs.

However, staff told us they felt they were not always listened to when raising concerns and they were “tired and burnt out” and did not always feel heard. Staff told us they could not always take breaks.

We have not awarded this service a score for Caring.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Caring.

We scored the service as 3. The service treated women with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

Women and their families we spoke with felt they were treated with kindness, compassion, and dignity. During the assessment, we observed midwives taking time to interact with women and those close to them in a respectful and considerate way. Women felt staff listened to them and communicated with them appropriately.

Women told us, “I felt my midwife was caring and listened to me”, “the midwives supported me throughout my pregnancy and birth” and “they were amazing”.

The service received positive feedback from the women and their families who used it. Feedback from women and their families was gained through the friends and family test (FFT) and the birth stories service.

Patient experience audits were reviewed by matrons across maternity services and highlighted how staff at all levels were reported to be consistently kind, supportive, professional, and compassionate by women and their families.

We reviewed the latest CQC Maternity survey 2025, we saw that when women were asked “Before you were induced, were you given appropriate information and advice on the risks associated with an induced labour?”, the service scored 6.7, which was below the national average of 7.6, when compared to all other trusts in England. Women were asked if they felt that healthcare professionals did everything they could to help manage your pain in hospital after the birth. The service scored 8.0, which was above the national trust average of 7.6.

When women were asked if they were treated with kindness and compassion during labour and birth, the service scored 9.3, which was above the national trust average of 9.0. When women were asked about their post-natal care they received, were they treated with kindness the service scored 8.7, which was above the national trust average of 8.4.

The service worked closely and had positive relationships with the local Maternity and Neonatal Voices partnership (MNVP). The MNVP engaged regularly with leaders to ensure voices of women were heard and feedback was passed on.

Feedback was used to form reflective practice with maternity staff and for professional development. Staff achievements were shared, and we saw feedback from women sharing where staff had gone above and beyond to support women during their birthing experiences.

The unit had a bereavement area where women and families could spend time after the birth of their baby. The area had specialist equipment such as cold cots, which would allow the family to spend several days with their baby after birth. There were specialist bereavement midwives who provided care to grieving parents.

We scored the service as 3. The service treated women as individuals and made sure women’s care, support and treatment met women’s needs and preferences. They took account of women’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Women’s individual needs and preferences were understood, and this was reflected in the care, treatment and support they received during their pregnancy and birthing journey. Staff were understanding and had a non-judgmental attitude when caring for or discussing women with mental health needs.

Emotional support and advice to women was evident from talking to women during the assessment and from reviewing feedback and thank you emails and letters received from women. Staff were reported to be readily available to women. Staff listened and were visible on the unit. For example, one woman we spoke to had a difficult pregnancy and felt the kindness and support she had received from the midwives was excellent.

The findings of the Maternity survey 2025 showed when women were asked if a midwife asked about their mental health, the service scored 9.6, which was above the national trust average for England. Women were also asked if they were given information about any changes they might experience to their mental health after having a baby, the service scored 7.5, which was above the national trust average of 7.4.

The service offered support for women from black and south Asian backgrounds to access antenatal results and choices counselling (ARC). This was because women from a black and south Asian background were less likely to access mental health services.

Maternity and neonatal voice partnership (MNVP) used various methods to engage with women using maternity services. The MNVP had successfully procured finance to purchase reclining chairs for partners staying overnight. This meant partners could comfortably stay and support women as well as also being able to establish a bond with baby.

The service had a comprehensive 7-day bereavement service across all 4 maternity sites to make sure there was consistent support for women and their families experiencing pregnancy loss or neonatal death.

As well as bereavement counselling for women, the service also identified bereavement counselling specifically for men. Emotional support following baby or pregnancy loss should be inclusive of men as well as women. Men can experience significant grief following pregnancy or baby loss. Where this grief is not recognised, it may negatively affect their wellbeing and their capacity to support their partner. Providing inclusive, compassionate support enables both parents to acknowledge and process their loss and promotes positive mental health outcomes.

Staff supported women whose first language was not English to use a service called ‘B-Line’, for translation services to access care and maternity assessment unit.

We scored the service as 3. The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Women said that they had choice and control over their own care. We observed staff who supported and involved women in assessments and encouraged them to make decisions about their care.

Women and their families could give feedback on the service and their treatment, and staff supported them to do this as well as maintain relationships that were important to them. For example, the service had introduced ‘hope boxes’ for mothers where the local authority was planning a separation at birth. Hope boxes included blankets, teddy and memory cards, to support the mother’s needs.

We reviewed the Maternity survey 2025, women were also asked if they felt that if their partner or someone else close to them were involved in their care during labour and birth were they able to be involved as much as they wanted. The trust scored 9.8, which was above the national trust average of 9.5. When asked about their stay in hospital, if their partner or someone else close to you was involved in your care, were they able to stay with you as much as you wanted. The trust scored 9.0, which was above the national trust average of 7.4.

We scored the service as 2. The evidence showed some shortfalls. Staff did not always respond to women’s needs in the moment and women sometimes experienced delays. Staff acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. The service listened to and understood women’s needs, views and wishes.

We observed staff were busy in all areas and working under pressure across during the inspection. We saw staff being deployed to clinical areas in most need to optimise safety.

There were delays to the elective caesarean section list due to the obstetric theatre not being in use at the start of our inspection and a lack of space within main theatres. This meant there was an ongoing delay to elective caesarean sections and women having an induction of labour.

Staff told us the obstetric theatre had to be closed due to heating and ventilation problems weekly and during the inspection the closure of the obstetric theatre had become normalised.

Maternity staff were supportive and listened to women’s needs. The service offered a birth reflections service, which gave women and their families the opportunity to talk about their personal birth experiences.

Staff acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress and they listened to and understood women’s needs, views and wishes.

Bereavement midwives offered counselling to women who experienced pregnancy loss under 24 weeks. For losses over 24 weeks, mothers could choose support from either the bereavement midwife or the perinatal mental health team (PMHT). Women and their families could access bereavement support for as long as needed, including during future pregnancies. The PMHT also provided timely and supportive care, with staff reporting prompt responses.

The trust had introduced a bespoke restorative supervision programme, to provide meaningful, compassionate support to families who may have experienced negative outcomes or the loss of their baby.

We scored the service as 2. Staff did not always feel senior leaders listened to staff concerns. Staff felt their wellbeing was not always promoted and there was a lack of person-centred care.

Staff told us they felt they were not always listened to, when raising concerns, and felt there was a disconnect between managers.

We had received several whistleblower concerns in relation to insufficient staffing. Staff said they were “tired and burnt out” and it was common for staff not to take their break due to low staffing.

Staff we spoke with felt there was a divide between Princess Royal Hospital and the closely linked other trust location. Staff felt there were inequities in workload and resources.

The leadership team completed perinatal culture work to improve staff wellbeing, with targeted action plans to improve cultural challenges. The service launched an app for staff to improve staff experience within the workplace alongside improving care for women. Through the app, staff were able to submit ideas for improving the service, discuss within teams and work collaboratively, to boost staff morale and well-being.

Professional Midwifery Advocates (PMA) provided pastural support and restorative supervision to staff. All midwives were allocated a PMA, and support was offered to maternity support workers.