- SERVICE PROVIDER
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust Also known as UHS
This is an organisation that runs the health and social care services we inspect
Maternity survey 2024
Published 28 November 2024
This survey looks at the experiences of 18,951 women, across 120 NHS trusts, who gave birth in February 2024 (and January 2024 for smaller trusts).
Questionnaires were sent out between May and August 2024, responses were received from 281 people at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
-
-
Advice on risks of induction
Being given appropriate information and advice on risks of induced labour7.2 out of 10
About the same
-
Decision to be induced
Being involved in the decision to be induced7.8 out of 10
About the same
-
Advice at start of labour
Receiving appropriate advice and support when contacting a midwife or the hospital8.4 out of 10
About the same
-
Being sent home
Not being sent home during labour when they were worried9.2 out of 10
About the same
-
Pain management during labour and birth
Staff doing everything they could to manage pain during labour and birth7.3 out of 10
About the same
-
Partner involvement
Partners being involved as much as they wanted during labour and birth9.5 out of 10
About the same
-
-
-
Staff introduction
Staff introducing themselves before examination or treatment9.1 out of 10
About the same
-
Being left alone
Not being left alone by midwives or doctors at a time when it worried them7.9 out of 10
About the same
-
Raising concerns
Concerns being taken seriously once raised8.4 out of 10
About the same
-
Attention during labour
If attention was needed during labour and birth, a member of staff was there to help8.8 out of 10
About the same
-
Staff working together
Feeling midwives and doctors worked well together during labour and birth8.8 out of 10
About the same
-
Clear communication
Being spoken to during labour and birth, in a way they could understand9.3 out of 10
About the same
-
Involvement in decisions
Being involved in decisions about their care during labour and birth8.7 out of 10
About the same
-
Respect and dignity
Being treated with respect and dignity during labour and birth9.3 out of 10
About the same
-
Confidence and trust
Having confidence and trust in the staff caring for them during labour and birth8.7 out of 10
About the same
-
Opportunity to ask questions
Having the opportunity to ask questions about their labour and birth6.2 out of 10
About the same
-
Medical history
Staff caring for them during labour and birth being aware of their medical history7.1 out of 10
Somewhat worse than expected
-
Kindness and compassion
Being treated with kindness and compassion during labour and birth9.1 out of 10
About the same
-
-
-
Delay in discharge
Discharge from hospital being delayed6.1 out of 10
About the same
-
Attention after birth
If attention was needed after the birth, a member of staff was there to help7.5 out of 10
About the same
-
Information and explanations
Receiving the information and explanations they needed after the birth7.4 out of 10
About the same
-
Kind and understanding care
Being treated with kindness and understanding by staff after the birth8.4 out of 10
About the same
-
Partner length of stay
Partner who was involved in care being able to stay with them as much as they wanted6.3 out of 10
About the same
-
Pain management after birth
Staff doing everything they could to manage pain in hospital after birth8.0 out of 10
About the same
-
About these scores
Most questions are grouped under the section in which they appear in the questionnaire.
We asked people to answer questions about different aspects of their care and treatment. Based on their responses, we gave each NHS trust a score out of 10 for each question (the higher the score the better).
Each trust also received a rating of ‘Much better’, ‘Better’, ‘Somewhat better’, ‘About the same’ ‘Somewhat worse’, ‘Worse’ or ‘Much worse’:
- Much better: the trust is much better for that particular question compared to most other trusts that took part in the survey
- Better: the trust is better for that particular question compared to most other trusts that took part in the survey
- Somewhat better: the trust is somewhat better for that particular question compared to most other trusts that took part in the survey
- About the same: the trust is performing about the same for that particular question as most other trusts that took part in the survey
- Somewhat worse: the trust performed somewhat worse for that particular question compared to most other trusts that took part in the survey
- Worse: the trust performed worse for that particular question compared to most other trusts that took part in the survey
- Much worse: the trust performed much worse for that particular question compared to most other trusts that took part in the survey
More detailed information on the methodology is available in the technical document on the Maternity Survey page.
Where a section score is not present (‘Overall score unavailable’) this is due to a question(s) being missing from that section (‘Not applicable’) meaning that no section score can be produced. Questions have been excluded where too few people answered a question (less than 30 respondents). This is because the uncertainty around the result is too great.