Basildon University Hospital

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

People’s care plans reflected their physical, mental, emotional and social needs. People who used the service were regularly involved in planning and making shared decisions about their care and treatment, and understood their treatment options, including any risks and benefits involved. People could access care, treatment, and support when they needed it, including out of hours and in an emergency. Physical premises and equipment were accessible. The service used people’s feedback to actively seek to improve access for people more likely to experience barriers or delays in accessing their care. People had equal access to care, treatment, and support.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We spoke to 4 women and birthing partners whilst on assessment. They told us they were involved in planning and making shared decisions about their care and treatment, and understood their treatment options, including any risks and benefits involved. One woman told us “My care was coordinated and teams worked well together. When they were unsure, they sought further clarity and opinions to plan my care and support.”

People’s care plans reflected their physical, mental, emotional and social needs. Staff told us they personalised care plans for women and birthing people with care based on their individual needs and preferences. Staff told us they had the ability to adjust these based on need, and these were discussed and handed over in the morning staff huddles and written on their personal handover sheet. Risk assessments were completed and regularly reviewed to identify women living with mental health problems, learning difficulties and any other additional needs. The service gathered feedback from mothers and birthing partners regarding their care experiences, to drive improvements, using a variety of sources, including patient feedback forms and through the maternity and neonatal voices partnership (MNVP).

Women and birthing people’s notes were comprehensive and showed that individualised care was provided, such as for those women and birthing people who had complex care needs or whose pregnancy was high risk. Community discharge audits showed that most women and birthing people were discharged from the community midwifery team on or within 10 days of giving birth. This meant that care continued for as long as necessary to ensure newborn babies received the care and treatment they needed. We reviewed 4 care records, there was evidence of discussions that had taken place and decisions made with regards to treatment choice. We saw evidence of completion of mental health in all 4 care records, and action taken in relation to a woman who had experienced female genital mutilation. Care records clearly documented escalation to seniors and discussions with the mother. We heard a conversation where the midwife had left a woman and her birthing partner to consider the treatment options that had been explained by the medical team. Women and birthing partners could access a range of information online such as a personalised care and support plan, QR codes to access further information on health and well-being, as well as a range of classes for infant feeding, birthing and gestational diabetes.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

People could access care, treatment, and support when they needed it, including out of hours and in an emergency. Women told us they were regularly updated automatically by staff on care and treatment. They, along with their partners, were able to discuss possible treatment. However, one woman reported following an incident this was not always available and they were not provided with the appropriate treatment for 14 hours.

People had equal access to care, treatment, and support. Senior managers told us the service worked closely with external organisations, such as the local integrated care board and the maternity and neonatal voices partnership (MNVP) to identify barriers to patient experience and discuss improvements. This had resulted in recommendations for staff training and more investment in breast feeding support. The service engaged with women and birthing people through these partnerships to improve support for at risk women and birthing people and to provide education and information around pre-conception health. Physical premises and equipment were accessible. Staff told us of the actions they took to ensure all women and birthing people were able to receive the care and treatment they needed. The service had arranged for some antenatal clinics to be carried out in the furthest parts of their catchment area to enable women and birthing people who had difficulty attending clinic appointments to attend more easily. They also ensured women and birthing people who were not able to attend community clinics were able to visit the hospital for their appointment, and staff made alternative arrangements if needed.

The service used people’s feedback to actively seek to improve access for people more likely to experience barriers or delays in accessing their care. They worked with the ICB and external organisations to seek feedback from service users and reduce barriers to accessing care and treatment. However, reviews of the perinatal mortality review tool (PMRT) did not include any maternal ethnicity information, which meant the service was not monitoring any potential impact on pregnancy and birth due to ethnicity. A virtual tour of maternity facilities at Basildon was available to service users. The video walked women and their families through the birthing journey, from admission to discharge and included subtitles to ensure it was accessible. Maternity triage service was open and staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Dedicated medical cover was provided for triage and maternity assessment weekdays 09.00 – 17.00. Shared medical cover between gynaecology and maternity assessment was available after 5pm weekdays and weekends. Contact numbers for maternity services, and where to attend with concerns were made available to all women. An interpreter was booked for those whose primary language was not English and staff had access to a 24/7 telephone interpreter service. Leaders monitored waiting times to ensure women could access emergency services when needed. The service adopted the BSOTS (Birmingham Symptom Obstetric Triage System) which allowed the level of urgency in which women should be seen to be assessed. There was a system in place to ensure women presenting with the highest level of urgency should be seen immediately. A review of the delayed induction of labour from April 2023 to March 2024 showed periods where admission and induction was delayed due to staffing and acuity over several days, for example in August 2023 data showed 22% of inductions were delayed over a 9-day period. Mitigations were explored, including the use of management and specialist midwives.

We did not look at Equity in experiences and outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.