Worthing 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 women always treated with kindness, empathy and compassion. We checked if women’s privacy and dignity was respected, that they understood that they and their experience of how they were treated and supported mattered. We also looked for evidence of women’s wishes having been considered, if their choices were respected, to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. The rating for this assessment has remained good. This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care. We assessed 5 quality statements.

Women were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff protected women’s privacy and dignity and treated them as individuals. Staff gave women choices and supported them with their preferences. They encouraged women to maintain relationships with family and friends. Staff responded to women in a timely way. The service supported staff wellbeing.

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.

The evidence showed a good standard. Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect.

The service received consistently positive feedback from the people who used it.

The visiting policy allowed 1 person to always remain with mothers and a further 2 visitors between 2pm and 8pm.

We spoke with 11 women who told us their experience of this service was positive. The Friends and Family Test (FFT) consistently showed above 90% positive responses from women and their families.

We reviewed the latest CQC Maternity Services Survey 2024, we saw that when women were asked if they felt involved in the decision to be induced the service scored better than the national average when compared to all other trusts in England. Women were also asked if they felt that healthcare professionals did everything, they could help manage their pain during labour and birth. The service was worse than the national average when compared to all other trusts in England.

In the same survey, when women were asked during labour and birth if they were treated with kindness and compassion the service scored slightly better when compared to all other trusts in England. When women were asked about their post-natal care and if they received were treated with kindness the service scored slightly better when compared to all other trusts in England.

Women and their families told us they were always treated with dignity and respect. They told us staff treated them with kindness and compassion and described staff as respectful and supportive. Women told us that they received relevant information and felt listened to. Staff spoke with women and their families in a polite, kind and respectful manner.

Staff maintained women's privacy and dignity by asking for permission before entering bed spaces and drawing curtains around beds when they attended. They offered chaperones to women having intimate examinations.

Women told us that the triage service had been very reassuring when they contacted them during their pregnancy. They described the triage staff as polite and kind in their approach. Women’s families also praised the service and spoke highly of the support provided.

The service provided bereavement and counselling services in multiple formats and on different platforms to women who had experienced pregnancy loss.

The evidence showed a good standard. Staff treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. Staff took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture, unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

Staff told us they aimed to treat every mother as an individual and to ensure mothers received information they could understand. Women and their families told us that they always felt staff took time to listen and reassure them.

Women told us they had chosen to use this service after a negative experience elsewhere, because they felt they would be treated as individuals.

Staff worked hard to support early safe discharge for mothers who wanted it. Women told us that they appreciated being able to have their friends as well as family visit them while using the maternity service.

Women with mental health needs during their pregnancy told us they felt supported. Staff considered individual needs and took time to listen and reassure women. Friends and Family Test feedback was consistently positive.

We reviewed the latest CQC Maternity Services Survey 2024, we saw when women were asked if a midwife asked about their mental health, the services scored about the same as the national trust average. 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 worse than 6.9, which was worse than the national trust average.

Staff used translation services, including face-to-face translators to communicate safely and effectively with people who do not speak English as their first language. However, we observed staff using a relative to help translate to a patient. Staff told us they knew this was not the correct process as they could not guarantee that the relative would translate accurately for the patient.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

Bereavement midwives worked with the chaplaincy team. They met fortnightly to provide focused and pastoral support for staff. The chaplaincy team was available to speak to any patient, relative or staff member every day of the week. We saw a chapel in the hospital that had a tree dedicated to lost babies and loved ones with a quiet place to reflect. Staff told us that bespoke services were provided for baby blessings, with consideration given to the wishes of families and any religious beliefs.

Women told us that staff supported them to be involved in making decisions about their care. They told us that they were pleased their partners were involved with them in decision making.

We reviewed the latest NHS Maternity Services Survey 2024, we saw that when women were asked about being offered a choice on where to have their baby the service scored better than the national average when compared to all other trusts in England.

Women were asked whether their partner or someone close to them was able to be involved in their care during labour and birth as much as they wanted. The trust performed better than the national average in this area. When asked about their hospital stay - specifically whether their partner or someone close to them was able to stay with them as much as they wanted, the trust scored 6.3 out of 10, which was about the same compared to other trusts nationally. Following the assessment the trust told us that partners or birth supporters have been able to stay with birthing mothers 24/7 since October 2024.

Staff gained consent before giving care and recorded this in patients’ records. The service promoted independence. For example, a patient told us that staff had supported her to keep control of her vital medicines while in hospital. This allowed them to maintain stability of their non pregnancy related disorder as they would at home.

The service published information through various channels including social media, to tell women about the services and choices available to them.

The evidence showed a good standard. Staff listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s immediate needs and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff spoke with people using triage services about pain management. People told us that they had good access to support from the service throughout their pregnancy.

The Perinatal Mental Health Team (PMHT) provided support to women and we spoke with staff members who told us that they regularly referred to this team. They told us that they were quick to respond and supportive.

The service provided access to physiotherapy before and after birth, including a specialised perineal tear clinic if required.

The bereavement midwife offered support to women and families through bereavement. This included signposting to external charitable organisations that offered support after pregnancy loss.

The evidence showed a good standard. The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

The service provided a comprehensive education programme for midwives, which supported professional links with doctors and paramedics.

Staff received regular training to keep them updated. Staff told us they felt welcomed and valued when they first joined the team.

Managers were visible and approachable. Staff told us that they could raise concerns, they felt listed to and had a voice.

The service offered staff support options such as flexible working and signposting to counselling services. Staff told us that they chose to work on this unit because of the support they received from managers.

The service had introduced a new maternity nurse role. Staff told us they had been very well received by the service and felt part of the team. The addition of the maternity nurse role had provided extra support to the maternity teams and in some cases had freed up midwives to focus on midwifery specific tasks.

Newly registered staff told us that managers always protected their supernumerary status. This meant they were extra to the required staffing, which supported their training and development needs. The service offered jobs to all newly qualified midwives who had trained with the team.

Staff told us they felt supported by managers during a period of high staff vacancy. However, specialist staff had been redeployed into clinical roles, which had stalled improvement initiatives, including an improvement application. Managers told us they had resolved this and specialist staff could work once again on service improvements.