MATERNITY services provided by a Mid Cheshire Hospital are among the best in the country, according to a national survey.

Leighton Hospital’s maternity services, part of Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, were rated by the women who use them in a Care Quality Commission survey.

Women who had recently given birth were asked to rate their experience in a number of key areas, including antenatal care, the labour and birthing process, and postnatal care.

The Trust was ranked one of the best in the UK for the labour and birth elements of the pregnancy journey, scoring a total of 9.1 out of 10 – 0.3 points off the highest national score.

Pam Cornwall, head of midwifery at MCHFT, said: “We are very pleased with these figures as they are a real insight into what our patients think about our services.

“All of the results show that we are rated better or the same as other Trusts in the country, meaning that we are providing great care to our patients.

“As a Trust, we welcome feedback from all of our patients, and they can do so in a number of different ways.”

In October, the national Friends and Family Test was expanded to cover maternity services, enabling Trusts to analyse the feedback in an attempt to improve their services based on the need and experience of patients.

“We have made significant investments in our maternity services over the past two years, with a full refurbishment of our Labour Ward, the introduction of a dedicated Midwifery-led Unit and changes to our Antenatal Clinic,” she added.

“We are also currently in the process of improving our Postnatal Ward and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, meaning that we can offer an even higher quality of care throughout the pregnancy journey for our local community and beyond.”

Visit mcht.nhs.uk/maternity for more information on the maternity services available at MCHFT.