Somerset Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) has published a new report evaluating maternity and neonatal services at Yeovil District Hospital and Musgrove Park Hospital from the perspective of service users.
The report details findings and recommendations for improvement following Somerst MNVP’s annual ’15 Steps’ visits to the hospitals in July 2024.
During the visits, a group of current and recent service users and Somerset MNVP staff and volunteers used the NHS England 15 Steps toolkit to observe first impressions of the care environments and interactions with staff. They identified strengths and areas for improvement across five key themes:
- Welcoming and informative
- Safe and clean
- Friendly and personal
- Organised and calm
- Accessible and inclusive.
The report outlines key recommendations for each hospital, 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 recommendations for Yeovil District Hospital include:
- Welcoming and informative: Enhance signage, particularly in the main maternity reception, antenatal and scanning areas, to ensure clarity and better navigation; and use language that is sensitive to diverse service users.
- Safe and clean: Maintain high standards by regularly inspecting and cleaning and repairing damaged areas.
- Friendly and personal: Use artwork and more welcoming cots to create a more homely, less clinical atmosphere in maternity and neonatal areas, and improve privacy in the Special Care Baby Unit and the Day Assessment Unit.
- Organised and calm: Create a more relaxing environment with natural lighting, including in labour rooms, and reduce clutter, including in the Special Care Baby Unit and the Early Pregnancy Assessment Centre.
- Accessible and inclusive: Ensure wheelchair accessibility in all areas, especially reception spaces, make sure information is easy to find and use, and provide key information in more inclusive formats and languages.
Key recommendations for Musgrove Park Hospital include:
- Welcoming and informative: Improve signage, including for the Early Pregnancy Assessment Centre, Bracken Birth Centre and Transitional Care, making them easier to find and follow for patients and visitors.
- Safe and clean: Regularly address maintenance issues, such as repairing cracks in bath panels, removing mold in shower rooms, and replacing stained seating, and add tap monitors to prevent scalding.
- Friendly and personal: Enhance environments so that they feel less clinical, more homely and welcoming, including in the Early Pregnancy Assessment Centre, Special Care Baby Unit, and the Bracken Birth Centre. Add frosted plastic to windows to improve privacy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, labour ward bathrooms and recovery rooms.
- Organised and calm: Improve storage solutions and use of space, reduce clutter and information overload in areas like the antenatal clinic.
- Accessible and inclusive: Standardise the language used on signage and ensure that all areas are accessible, including adding handrails and chairs in labour ward bathrooms.
What Somerset MNVP liked about both hospitals
The visiting group highlighted several positive aspects of the services at both Yeovil District and Musgrove Park Hospitals. Many members of staff were praised for their warm, friendly, and welcoming approach, helping to make families feel cared for and respected. Additionally, the improvements made in recent years were appreciated by the group, including updated signage and the addition of personal touches in some areas.
Announcing the report, Dylan Perry, SMNVP Lead, said: “Somerset MNVP is committed to ensuring that service user voices are at the heart of maternity and neonatal care improvements. I want to thank all the service users who joined us for the 15 Steps visits and contributed so constructively; their personal stories, insights, and recommendations are at the heart of this report.
“We know the NHS faces many challenges, but the warmth, friendliness, and dedication of the staff we met is reassuring. The 15 Steps visits enable us to guide improvements to hospital spaces and facilities to ensure they match the quality of care provided by staff, so that maternity and neonatal care in Somerset is safe, inclusive, and supportive for all families.
“We have shared this report with leadership teams at Yeovil District and Musgrove Park Hospitals, as well key partners and stakeholders in maternity and neonatal care, and we will review progress in 2025 during regular safety walkabouts and further 15 Steps visits.”
Sally Bryant, Director of Midwifery for Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (SFT), said: “I want to say a very big thank you to Somerset MNVP and their service users who have given up their time to visit our maternity units at Musgrove Park Hospital and Yeovil District Hospital and give us their feedback on the environments within our units.
“It is incredibly important to hear the voice of mothers, pregnant people and families, and we will incorporate this feedback into our ongoing work to improve our maternity services. This includes positive feedback about areas that are welcoming – and that we may be able to replicate – and feedback about areas that we need to improve.
“These include additional changes to make signage clearer, work to make some environments more accessible, feel less clinical and support privacy, and a need to review posters and information displays to avoid information overload and make information inclusive and accessible to all.
“A lot of the feedback reported relates to the condition and maintenance of our estate. The poor condition of the building in which Musgrove Park Hospital’s maternity unit is housed is a big concern to us. We have been working for a number of years on plans to replace it as part of the New Hospitals Programme and are awaiting the outcome of the national review of the programme.
“Nevertheless, this feedback highlights the importance of ongoing maintenance and replacement of older fixtures and fittings and of making it clear when improvements are being made or are imminent. For example, at the time of the visit, essential maintenance work was being undertaken and the cleaning team was onsite to ensure a speedy response to the works, but our visitors were understandably not aware of this.
“Once again we thank the Somerset MNVP for their feedback and their willingness and commitment to working with us.”
Read the full report: 15 Steps for maternity and neonatal care in Somerset – Yeovil District Hospital and Musgrove Park Hospital (Nov 2024)
Share your feedback about maternity or neonatal care in Somerset.