Mixed report for Kingston's maternity services

11:37am Friday 30th November 2007

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A Healthcare Commission report into maternity services has rated Kingston Hospital as "above average" for antenatal classes and the cleanliness of its bathroom facilities.

The hospital, where more than 5,000 babies were delivered last year, was also rated highly for the provision of Down's syndrome screening.

But the hospital was marked down for the quality of food given to new mothers and for inconsistency in advice on breast feeding.

When new mothers were asked if they were given active encouragement to breast feed, as is recommended by the Government, 25 per cent said they had not. Similarly, only 27 per cent of mothers surveyed said they had received consistent advice about feeding their babies.

A spokeswoman for Kingston Hospital said this problem had been addressed. She said: "The trust is applying for a baby friendly status. This means the trust would be recognised as promoting breast feeding for new mums as a standard."

According to the hospital, the quality of food offered to patients had increased since a new catering contract started in August.

The spokeswoman said: "Following this change over, patient satisfaction has been much higher."

She added that further steps had been taken to increase the quality of care, including a recruitment drive for midwives.

She said: "A detailed plan has been drawn up and we are committed to taking these steps to further improve women's experience of having a baby at Kingston Hospital."