Pitter-patter of happy feet in maternity

Tuesday 01 September 2015

Mums and dads have been praising the work of staff in Jersey's maternity unit.

They’ve given their neonatal care top marks in almost half of the categories listed in a national survey.

Parents with babies who were born between October 2013 and September 2014 took part in the survey by the UK-based Picker Institute Europe that quizzed customers in 88 units across 72 NHS Trusts as well as Jersey.

Deputy Director of Operations Elaine Torrance said: “The marks in the majority of categories reflect the hard work and professionalism of all our neonatal staff – they are extremely dedicated to caring for parents and their babies, and I’m very pleased this has been recognised.”

The unit scored above average in most of the other categories and 96% of those surveyed said they would recommend the unit to friends and family.

But it seems they’ve only been taking baby steps in three particular areas where they didn’t do so well with scores in the bottom 20%.

Parents weren’t impressed about the lack of privacy to feed their babies, or that they weren’t allowed to be present when their baby was being discusses and weren’t happy that they weren’t included in discussions about their baby’s care and treatment.

Mrs Torrance said: “We know that some of the facilities are outdated and smaller than would be acceptable in a modern hospital.

“The Maternity Unit is in need of investment to cover the likelihood that the current site will be in use for at least another eight years prior to the target date for the Future Hospital project.

“We have already done a lot of work towards addressing these areas and introducing changes to the Unit which will make the environment more homely, and are incorporating the views of recent mothers as part of this work.”