Westmorland 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

We assessed 7 quality statements. The service mostly made sure women were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and staff decided, in partnership with women, how to respond to any relevant changes in women’s needs. The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

The service made it easy for women to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. 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. Women’s care, treatment and support were accessible and were in line with best practice. The service supported women to plan for important life changes and ensured that they had enough time to make informed decisions about their future.

At our last assessment we rated this key question requires improvement. At this assessment the rating improved to good.

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 service made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.

Women could self-refer for maternity care or be referred by their GP. Women were advised to self-refer before the end of their ninth week of pregnancy to ensure they had the option of the full range of screening tests. Women deemed low risk could choose to birth at home, at Helme Chase or one of the other maternity locations which met women’s choices responsively.

There were specialist midwives working across the trust. These midwives were dedicated to key areas of postnatal and antenatal care such as bereavement, mental health, infant feeding, health and well being as examples. A governance midwife and a digital midwife were also crucial in ensuring that the trust kept updated with service requirements. A psychologist attended the unit also and held sessions for women deemed in need of additional help.

The service complied with accessible information standards and flagged any individual needs in care records. Information was also on display in a variety of formats such as large print to aid communication.

The service understood the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

Midwives assessed women during antenatal visits and were able to signpost women to sources of help for anxiety and depression or fear of pregnancy or giving birth, which was affecting their birth choices. A perinatal mental health midwife was available for specialist advice and held clinics on site.

Midwives adapted appointments and visits for antenatal and postnatal care to accommodate women and their partners. They understood the needs of the local community and worked to ensure that those in remote rural areas had access to help which suited their lifestyles. Community midwives aimed to see women they had looked after antenatally and postnatally to have continuity of care
The service actively engaged with families to understand the changing needs of those using the service. There were a number of events held by Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) which is a group of parents, volunteers and professionals who work together to help shape and develop maternity services.

Feedback was collected by MNVP to help the service understand the diverse health and care needs within the community.

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

Women had access to interpreting services so they could make decisions about their care. This included leaflets in multiple languages, videos and being signposted to local charity websites.

Women were involved in the assessment of their needs. People’s communication needs were considered, the service displayed various posters in multiple languages. Staff had access to technology so they could use interpretation services for those who did not have English as a first language and the trust had an online system for British Sign Language users. Staff were aware of needs within the community and worked to ensure that the large rural population around them were able to access individualised care.

The service made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

Information was clearly displayed throughout the unit and the maternity website on how to raise concerns and make a formal complaint. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

There was good oversight of complaints and leaders monitored their compliance to their complaints policy. Staff were familiar with the trust's complaints policy and understood what duty of candour meant.
The trust invited women and their families to provide feedback using the friends and family test (FFT) in paper format, via a QR code and in different languages.

The service made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it.

Women told us they could access antenatal and postnatal appointments at a time which suited them and their partners, and staff were pro-active in ensuring this. The maternity dashboard recorded data on equality and diversity. The leadership team used this data to target resources on improving services for all.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

Tackling health inequalities was a key priority for the service and a core part of delivering their clinical strategy. Staff told us about areas of deprivation within their population and the efforts made to take care into the heart of the community. People who did not speak English as their first language could access the service.

Staff had access to face-to face interpreters or telephone interpretation services. The maternity dashboard highlighted inequalities relevant to ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Leaders monitored outcomes and investigated demographic data to identify when treatment and outcomes differed for diverse groups of people.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future.

Women were assessed and offered support to improve their health during pregnancy and the postnatal period. This included but was not limited to advice on stopping smoking and referrals for specialist support, improving diet and exercise and emotional and psychological support. Care notes reflected discussions and appropriate referrals.

Staff discussed contraception, sexual and mental health people prior to discharge. They reinforced key information (such as the importance of cervical screening) with written information and links to accredited websites with evidenced based information and support.

Women were clear about discharge plans and who to contact with any concerns. Discharge summaries were shared electronically with health visitors and GPs and follow up arrangements were made prior to discharge. In addition, staff shared details of support groups and encouraged mothers to join
the maternity and neonatal voice partnership to help design and continually improve their maternity services.