A new report has ranked Letterkenny University Hospital in joint-last place for maternity experiences.
The first National Maternity Experience Survey, published today, found that the majority of women who gave birth in Letterkenny had a positive experience of maternity care, but 26% of women gave a ‘fair or poor’ rating of their care at LUH.
122 women who gave birth in October and November 2019 shared their views for the survey. 51% of respondents gave the hospital a 51% ‘very good’ rating and 23% gave a ‘good’ rating.
Letterkenny University Hospital Survey Results – yourexperience.ie
Across each stage of care, from antenatal care through to postnatal care at home, women rated their care at LUH as similar to the national average.
The findings show room for improvement, according to Independent TD for Donegal Thomas Pringle, who has called on the Saolta University Health Care Group to listen to the concerns of pregnant people.
Deputy Pringle said: “Maternity services must put pregnant people at the heart of decision-making. This survey raises many issues that Saolta and hospitals and hospital groups across the country must act on.”
Letterkenny was tied with Mayo University Hospital, also under the Saolta umbrella, which also saw 26 per cent of respondents give a “fair to poor” rating for their overall experience.
Deputy Pringle said: “This survey shows where maternity services need improvement and comes from the users of the services themselves. We can see where the problems are. It is now up to the hospitals to address these issues.
“I welcome this survey and thank all the people who shared their experiences for this study. Our hospitals need to take the lessons learned in this survey and apply them to the maternity services they offer.”
The findings of the National Maternity Experience Survey will be used by Letterkenny University Hospital and community maternity care providers in the area to improve the maternity experiences of women who give birth in the hospital.
Read the findings of the report on Letterkenny University Hospital here.