WIREDGOV

CQC's 2024 national maternity survey is happening soon. The survey is carried out every year. It asks women and other people who have used maternity services about their experience of maternity care.

NHS hospital trusts will be inviting people to take part in this year's survey from April. Taking part is voluntary and all answers are confidential and anonymous.

The survey has been running since 2007. It asks a sample of people who gave birth in 2024 about their experiences of:

• antenatal care
• labour and birth
• postnatal care

The survey asks questions about a wide range of issues, including:

• did staff listen to you and were your concerns taken seriously?
• did you have confidence and trust the staff delivering your care?
• did you have access to help and information when you needed it?
• were you able to make choices and decisions about your care?
• were you treated with dignity and respect?

Participating in the survey will help improve care. We will analyse the responses to:

• understand peoples' experience at each hospital trust
• identify any trends in experience across England

We will publish the results on CQC's website and on the NHS Surveys website in January 2025.

We also use the results to inform our understanding of the quality of local maternity services. This helps us see where we need to follow up on any concerns.

Hospital trusts use the results to make changes to improve the experience of people who use their maternity service in the future.

Nicola Wise, our Director of Secondary and Specialist Healthcare, said:

"The survey is anonymous and carried out independently.

"It is vital that we listen to people using maternity services so we can understand what makes a good experience and what needs to improve.

"We want to hear from as many people as possible about the maternity care they’ve received. The more people who take part in the survey, the richer and more valuable the information we gather will be. That will help hospital trusts to target improvements.

"If you are invited to complete the survey, we really want to hear from you. We need you to tell us what works well and what you think needs to change. Please help us to drive the action required, so everyone using maternity services can have a positive experience every time."

About the survey:

• All women and people over the age of 16 who had a live birth in February 2024 are eligible to take part.
• The survey can be completed online or as a paper questionnaire. It is available in several different languages as well as in large print, Braille, and easy read format.
• You will be sent a letter from the NHS hospital trust where you received your maternity care. The letter will include a link to complete the survey online.  The letter will explain how to complete the survey in an alternative format if preferred.
• The survey is part of the NHS Patient Survey Programme. The results from last year's maternity survey are available on CQC's website.