Your voice is important to us. We value and appreciate your feedback. We are here to listen to you about your experience and care with us. There are many ways to share your thoughts and provide this feedback, to celebrate the positives and raise any concerns.
Information about who you can talk to for advice and support can also be found on our emotional wellness pages.
Talk to us
Your midwife is here to listen if you have any concerns about the care you are receiving, they can also provide further information on who to contact and how.
Our senior midwifery team includes members of the team such as matron and the Head of Midwifery – contact us here.
Our Maternity debrief service is our dedicated maternity debrief service if you or your partner are struggling to process or understand your birth or experiences during the pregnancy or after the birth, feel unhappy about your birth outcome, the birth wasn’t what you expected or planned or you experienced a difficult or traumatic birth, you would like to fill in the gaps or piece together what happened. Please see our emotional wellness pages.
Our patient advice and liaison service (PALS) provide confidential advice and support to help you to resolve any questions or concerns you may have about the care we provide across our services. PALS act independently when handling patient and family concerns, liaising with colleagues, managers and, where appropriate, relevant organisations, to negotiate prompt solutions.
Raising a complaint – we hope to resolve any concerns swiftly and before there is a need to instigate a full complaints process, however if you do need to complain, you can do so in writing or verbally. Further information can be found here – Raise a concern.
The Friends and Family Test (FFT) is a national scheme that allows you tell us about the care you have received. This asks a series of questions that give us vital feedback on our services. This feedback is confidential, and results are shared with individual areas so that suggested improvements can be acted upon. There are more details here.
If you would like to discuss your experience regarding our other services such as the ultrasound department or neonatal services please contact that team directly or our PALS team can help direct you.
Talking with our partners
Your local Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MVNP)
Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) is an NHS working group: a team of service users and their families, commissioners, and providers (midwives and doctors) working together to review and contribute to the development of local maternity care using lived experience to contribute to transforming maternity care. There are local MNVP teams across Sussex who are championing the service user’s voice. To find out more about what your local MVP is doing and how to join a meeting: Maternity Voices Partnership
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The CQC are the independent regulator of health and social care in England, you can give feedback on your care you received directly with the CQC here.
The CQC run a national survey for maternity services. This is carried out every year. It asks women and other people who have used maternity services about their experience of maternity care. All answers are confidential and anonymous.