Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

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

All patients we spoke with were overwhelmingly positive about their whole experience on the mother and baby ward. We saw mothers, babies and their families were truly respected and valued as individuals and they were empowered as partners in their care. There was strong, visible person-centred culture on the ward. The ward had a holistic approach to care and there were some positive initiatives in place for those who supported the mothers on the ward. This included a fathers representative, who supported fathers to be involved in ward rounds and a wellbeing worker who offered patients and staff a variety of sessions including head and hand massage, reflexology and yoga. Staff felt supported by management and were proud of the service and to be part of the team.

This service scored 90 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

All patients we spoke with were overwhelmingly positive about their whole experience on the mother and baby ward. They told us staff were amazing and always went the extra mile. One patient said the ward staff had “saved her life” and another said “staff had supported them and their family in a way that far exceeded her expectations”.

Staff described how they always considered privacy and confidentiality as well as emotional wellbeing when caring for women and their babies.

We saw mothers, babies and their families were truly respected and valued as individuals. They were empowered as partners in their care, emotionally supported by an exceptional and distinctive service. Staff were consistently discreet and responsive when caring for mothers, babies and their families. Staff took time to interact with mothers, babies and their families in a respectful and considerate way.

Patients told us they felt they were active partners in their care and staff always empowered them to have a voice and to realise their potential.

Staff told us individual preferences and needs were always reflected in how care was delivered, and this was recorded in patients’ wellbeing plans. Staff recognised that people needed to have access to, and links with their advocacy and support networks in the community and they supported patients to do this.

We saw the ward had a dedicated fathers representative who, wherever possible made contact with fathers before their partners admission. They then maintained regular contact, held monthly support groups, and supported them to be involved in ward rounds.

Within all patient care and treatment records we saw individual personalised care plans for patients, fathers and babies. These were person centred and showed involvement from all relevant individuals.

Patients told us staff always took their individual likes and needs into consideration, and the ward activity coordinator always sought their views and opinions before planning activities.

Staff told us patients were nursed in the least restrictive way possible to enable them to recreate home life as much as was safely possible. This included 24-hour access to the ward kitchen, open access to the laundry and garden following the completion of a comprehensive risk assessment with the patient.

There was strong, visible person-centred culture, we saw staff considering each patient's life experience, age, gender, culture, heritage, language, beliefs, and identity.

We saw each patient had an up-to-date wellbeing plan which included their individual choices.

Patients told us staff were always on hand, visible and available should they require support.

Staff told us they ensured patients had dedicated one to one time with their named nurse. They recorded any significant changes in the patient’s care record. Staff were always able to increase a patients observations level if the clinical need indicated this.

We saw staff were always present in the communal areas of the ward.

We reviewed 5 patient care and treatment records, all included details of the patients’ triggers, coping strategies and the patients’ individual requirements from staff to support them.

Staff told us "the ward manager always checked in" with them on every shift. The support she gave them was brilliant and they were extremely proud to work with her on the unit. Staff were very positive about the impact of a wellbeing worker who was funded from charitable funds for both staff and patients. They provided a variety of sessions including head and hand massage, reflexology and yoga.

Staff had regular facilitated professional development sessions where specific issues and experiences were shared. These included, communicating with neurodiverse patients, common illnesses in the prenatal period, intrusive thoughts, personality disorder and lived experience.