Salisbury District Hospital Maternity Services rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission

The Maternity Team at Salisbury Hospital is celebrating after receiving a 'Good' rating from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on Friday, 14th February.

Chief Nurse Judy Dyos said, “We are incredibly proud of everybody in our Maternity Team. Following an unannounced inspection last September the CQC have graded the services we provide as ‘Good’. I would like to thank everyone in the maternity team for the hard work and commitment they show day in, day out.  It is fantastic news that parents said they felt safe in our care and felt able to raise concerns with our staff.”

Director of Midwifery Vicki Marston said, “We are absolutely thrilled to receive an overall rating of good for our Maternity services following a CQC inspection in September 2024. Staff have worked with commitment and enthusiasm to make improvements to the services offered to women and families since the last CQC inspection in 2021 and I’m incredibly proud and grateful to the whole team.

"The rating received is testament to their hard work and dedication to improve care for women, people using the service and their babies, and we are pleased that the inspectors highlighted the widespread improvements in the quality of care provided at Salisbury and have rated Maternity services as 'Good'."

The report says, "We inspected 15 quality statements across the safe, caring and well-led key questions and have combined the scores for these areas with scores from the last inspection to give the rating.

"There was a good safety culture where events were investigated, and learning was embedded to promote good practice. Staff provided safe care and treatment, the environment was now safe and mostly well maintained.

"To ensure staffing levels met the needs of women and birthing people, leaders had introduced assigning staff to their designated maternity area at the start of each shift. Staff delivered good care and treatment, and people had good outcomes.

"The department and staff were well-led by strong leaders, and there was improved governance and risk management."

The report also reflects the views of those using the department; it said, "Women were happy with their maternity care and treatment was explained to them throughout the maternity journey.

"Women told us they were mostly seen and reviewed quickly by midwives, and they were kept updated and informed in regard to their care. Women felt encouraged and supported to raise concerns without fear of being treated negatively if they do so. Women told us ‘I feel safe here’."

The report is published on CQC’s website.