Furness General Hospital

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

This means we looked for evidence that the service met women’s needs.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good.

This meant women’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

We looked for evidence that women and communities were always at the centre of how care was planned and delivered. We checked that the health and care needs of women and communities were understood, and they were actively involved in planning care that met these needs. We also looked for evidence that women could access care in ways that met their personal circumstances and protected equality characteristics. The service was working to improve on the previous years 2024 maternity survey results and continuity of care provision and integration.

We have not awarded this service a score for Responsive.

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

The evidence showed a good standard. The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

Staff made notifications to external bodies as needed to share information and keep women safe. Staff gave examples of how they worked with community midwives, health visitors and external organisations to make sure important information about women and their babies was shared with the relevant organisations to keep them safe.

Information governance systems included confidentiality of patient records. Clinical records were stored securely on an electronic record keeping system that was password protected. As we inspected the department, we did not see any unlocked computer terminals. Staff used their individual logins to access information they needed. Only necessary information was shared between departments and external organisations.

Signage and information for women was sufficient to enable easy navigation throughout the service. Although access to the centre from inside the main hospital required patients to walk outside, through a garage area, which was not as clearly signposted.

We saw health promotion posters displayed and signposting to services. There were leaflets available in public areas, for example, labour options, breech births, consent and vaccinations.

The trust website was comprehensive and included accessibility tools to facilitate navigation and information was also available from there in a different format like accessible PDF, large print, easy read, audio recording and useful videos.

Staff we spoke with were aware of the main three languages spoken in the local community other than English. Staff knew how to access translation services including British sign language for women who required them.

Women we spoke with told us they felt they received sufficient information in a way they understood, to make informed choices.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service made sure that women could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

The service worked hard to understand the community’s needs to ensure that all women had access to care, support and treatment in the way they required and when they required it.  Staff made reasonable adjustments for patients – for example, women with sensory needs or mobility issues were supported with their needs.

The service further worked to support women to deliver where and how they wanted to deliver. Women were given full information to enable them to make decisions about delivery such as the pros and cons of waterbirth and home delivery. Women were also provided with information about induction of labour. We asked the trust about delays to induction of labour and they told us that if this happened it was usually due to staff or bed shortages.

Staff planned for patients’ discharge, including good liaison with care managers/co-ordinators and community staff to make sure women were supported post discharge.

The community midwife team worked across a large area and worked flexibly to meet the needs of the service.  

The perinatal services had a clear pathway for Transitional Care services which was aligned with the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) Transitional Care Framework for Practice.   

Transitional Care was staffed by both Neonatal Nurses and midwives. This helped minimise separation of mother's and babies as they could remain together and be admitted to transitional care from birth.

The service did not record or audit running times of antenatal clinics and when women were seen in relation to their appointment time. The trust explained women who attended antenatal clinic were seen according to clinical need or at the relevant gestation. If a clinic was full then staff overbooked the clinic or gave them an appointment in an alternative clinic to ensure they were seen at the correct time. 

There was adequate medical cover day and night, a doctor could attend the ward quickly in an emergency and there were escalation processes in place to make sure that senior medical staff were available should their support be needed.

Women could access the service when they needed. The service was open 24 hours a day all year round. The service worked with other healthcare professionals to provide support for different healthcare needs and serious conditions needing specialist input.

The service had a day assessment unit which operated on an appointment basis but could be referred to from a clinic or the community. Most appointments were between 30 and 60 minutes long so most women did not spend the day on the unit.

Women could be referred for ultrasound when they are experiencing reduced fetal movements, growth, Doppler scans, bloods, urine, blood pressure checks, CTG monitoring, B12 injections and cervical stretch and sweep. The unit was open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

Women with higher risks due to a protected characteristic or at risk of health inequalities were identified at antenatal booking appointments.

The service used feedback to improve access for women more likely to experience barriers or delays in accessing their care. The MNVP team engaged with women from the most deprived postcodes, asylum seekers and women from other ethnic minority groups.

The service had physical premises and equipment that were accessible for all women including those with a disability. Staff gave examples of reasonable adjustments they had made to overcome barriers to ensure equal access. For example, women with additional needs were given a tour of the maternity theatre prior to their admission to familiarise with the environment.

During our inspection we observed an example, where a woman with some additional needs was experiencing a difficult time and couldn’t make her appointment that day. The midwife was a trusted person for the woman and offered to go and carry out her checks and bloods at her home so that she didn’t miss her appointment and didn’t have to leave home.

Women booked into the service by 12 weeks and 6 days gestation was consistently over 90% for the last 6 months.

Staff were proactive in finding ways to engage with ‘communities whose voices are seldom heard’ groups who did not always attend appointments. For example, they attended community hubs in the local area to invite prospective parents to join classes or programmes.

The evidence showed a good standard. Staff and leaders actively listened to information about women who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

The department did not undertake specific audits relating to protected characteristics, however they had recently introduced a new Inequalities Dashboard which was being overseen at Safety and Quality Group meetings and monitored for any emerging trends, The new dashboard looked at outcomes aligned to deprivation and ethnicity and the trust was planning to include further protected characteristics as it develops. This included outcomes to demonstrate equity in experience. The trust sent us a copy of the latest dashboard. It highlighted some areas of disparity which the trust had identified needed further investigation and had working groups in place to address these. The trust had also committed to using the Equality Delivery System (EDS2) Published: July 2022. The Equality Delivery System (EDS) is a system that helps NHS organisations improve the services they provide for their local communities and provide better working environments, free of discrimination while meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

We reviewed the national maternity dashboard from February 2024 to February 2025. This showed that 33% of mothers were in the most deprived decile. The national average was 14%. 

They recruited midwives who worked with local support agencies and charities to support women encountering hardship. The specialist midwives for vulnerable families worked with women experiencing addiction, homelessness, domestic violence or food poverty or whose first language was not English such as asylum seekers and refugees. The midwife was able to link women with organisations who could help them.

Staff were trained in equality, diversity and inclusion as part of their mandatory training. Midwifery staff were 98% compliant, obstetricians 100% and midwifery support workers 94% complaint against a trust standard of 90%.

Staff worked with multiple departments to support women during their birthing experience to make sure they were able to deliver in an environment that respected their privacy and dignity. When mothers and babies were not able to stay together after delivery, HOPE boxes were used as a way to bring comfort to those involved. These contained carefully chosen items to try to reduce trauma.

The service and the wider organisation promoted a culture where women were empowered to give their views. trust had undertaken equality impact assessments of their policies and procedures to ensure they did not place vulnerable women or those with protected characteristics at a disadvantage.

Routine postnatal care was individualised depending on the mode of delivery for the baby. Contact telephone numbers were provided for 24 hours a day access and advice from the maternity unit.

Staff we spoke with also told us about ongoing outreach work with asylum seekers refugees and vulnerable, difficult to reach groups. For example, people who are homeless, people who misuse substance and women held in custody.

Staff gave examples of how they made adjustments to support women who were neurodivergent or had additional learning needs. This included the use of information passports, allocation of quiet side rooms or playing music for women who find this soothing.

The service extended visiting times on the unit to allow ‘open visiting’. For example, partners and siblings could visit at any time, however other visitors were permitted in the afternoon and evening. Partners could stay 24 hours and sleep over if they wished.

The evidence showed a good standard. Women were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

We saw processes in place that were led by specialist staff to support families through times when significant decisions needed to be made. There was an antenatal and newborn screening team who provided support for pregnancies with complications and advanced decision making and planning for babies born with life shortening conditions.

Women could access specialist mental health and reproductive trauma support when they needed it. Specialist midwives developed support plans with women during pregnancy and after childbirth. Staff attended multi-disciplinary meetings throughout the pregnancy with other agencies in order to ensure all available support was in place ahead of time.

The service provided information and clinics to support women with complex pregnancies including multiple births, high risk pregnancies and for women who were vulnerable or required enhanced care and treatment.

The Rainbow bereavement suite provided a private, supportive environment for parents grieving the loss of a baby. There was a bedroom area with a double bed and cold cot, a sitting area, dining area and kitchen. Although support for bereaved parents had improved, the service would benefit from increased dedicated bereavement support to enhance the support of the bereavement midwife in place.

The bereavement midwife provided a service to women from 16 weeks, antenatally if there was a fetal anomaly and postnatally. There was a facility available for use with a family and a cold cot available. This was situated away from the main ward area to enable privacy and avoid the distress of being near the ward. The service enabled families to take their baby home if they wish to do so. There were books available to support siblings and services available to provide support to the whole family. 

The service worked closely with the chaplaincy service and other religious leaders to provide spiritual care for families. The families were supported by a local charity to provide memory boxes for families. 

The service promoted baby loss awareness and every year had a memorial service where they invited parents to attend. They had a remembrance book, poems, parents could light a candle and a tree with stars where they could write a message. 

There was good communication between the teams to ensure all appointments were cancelled so not causing unnecessary distress, they are working with the digital midwife to streamline this process. 

All reviews were shared with family, duty of candour was carried out and appropriate referral made such as MNSI if required. If there was individual learning then they did an individual plan with staff and followed the human resources (HR) process.