• Welcoming and informative
• Safe and clean
• Friendly and personal
• Organised and calm
• Accessible and inclusive.

The report outlines key recommendations for each area within the Maternity Unit, including suggestions for improved signage, decluttering and refreshed décor, accessibility for people with mobility issues, and the introduction of more personal touches in the hospital environments to create a warmer, less clinical and more inclusive atmosphere.

Key findings and recommendations

1. Creating a more comfortable, homely environment

Families value warm, welcoming spaces like the Snowdrop Suite, with soft furnishings and thoughtful touches. Making wards feel less clinical and more homelike could ease anxiety, support calmer experiences, and positively influence birth and feeding outcomes.

2. Supporting and valuing staff wellbeing

Friendly staff are highly appreciated, but their wellbeing needs more attention. An apparent absence of dedicated rest spaces in some areas highlights a need for better facilities to support staff, which in turn enables better patient care.

3. Improving mental health support

There is a clear need to strengthen mental health support for families, including better signposting to services, more accessible resources, and opportunities for regular wellbeing check-ins. Support should also recognise partners and the emotional transition into parenthood.

4. Enhancing navigation and accessibility (signage)

Hospitals can feel confusing and intimidating to navigate. Improved, more accessible signage (for example, clearer directions, lower placement, braille, and explanatory information about wards) would help patients and families feel more confident and independent.

5. Providing inclusive information and safer, less cluttered spaces

Information and resources should reflect diverse families and feeding choices to promote inclusivity. At the same time, reducing corridor clutter through better storage would improve safety, accessibility, and the overall patient experience.

Announcing the report, Lara Grigg, Senior Lead, Devon MNVP, said: “I’m so pleased that we were able to facilitate such a worthwhile experience for our service users. Their feedback to the event was fantastic. It’s a pleasure to work with the team at Derriford Hospital to collaborate on making pregnancy and birth a safer and more positive experience. In the past 12 months, the hospital has really enhanced its focus on listening to women, pregnant people and families and this is demonstrated in some clear improvements that have been made. I look forward to continuing this work and welcome any and all feedback from local families – by listening to the people who use the services, we can really make a positive impact.”

Devon MNVP has shared their report with the Local Maternity and Neonatal System and the University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust to guide plans for improving delivery of maternity care. Devon MNVP will monitor progress and carry out another 15 Steps visit in 2027.

More information

Read the full report: Derriford Hospital 15 Steps Report (Jan 2026) or share your feedback about maternity or neonatal care across Devon.

Evolving Communities is a community interest company which specialises in gathering and reporting people’s views and experiences of health and social care to help drive and guide improvements in services. The company has extensive experience of delivering independent local Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships and has been running Somerset MNVP for several years along with Kernow MNVP and Dorset MNVP, as well as several local Healthwatch services and a broad range of national and local community engagement projects.

Evolving Communities has recently recruited new members of staff (Lara, Helen and Caitlyn) to form the local team – as Senior Lead, MNVP Trust Lead and Volunteer & Engagement Officer –who will raise awareness of Devon MNVP, engage with people who use maternity and neonatal services, and share their feedback and insight with those who provide care to help shape local services.

Lucie Woodruff, CEO of Evolving Communities, said: “To provide quality maternity and neonatal care, services need to understand how to meet the needs of their diverse local communities. We are delighted to be supporting our new Devon MNVP team to connect with local people and champion their views. We look forward to working with maternity and neonatal care professionals to ensure continued development and improvement in Devon, and to sharing good practices across all our MNVP services in Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset.”

Charli Mardon, Devon Maternity Commissioner and Local Maternity and Neonatal System Programme Manager, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Lara, Helen and Caitlyn to the Devon Local Maternity and Neonatal System Team. The voices of families are pivotal to ensuring that our maternity and neonatal services are the best that they can be and reflect the needs of our community. We are looking forward to working with them in continuing to coproduce improvements to our services.”

Find out more about Devon MNVP and get in touch with the team to share your views and experiences about local services or get involved as a volunteer:

• Website: co.uk/devon-mnvp
• Email: info@devonmaternityvoices.org.uk
• Follow on social media: Facebook and Instagram