Update: Maternity facilities at Dubbo Hospital have improved “greatly” since the conduct of a Bureau of Health Information (BHI) survey, a Western NSW Local Health District (LHD) spokesperson has said.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Patient Perspectives: Experiences of maternity care in NSW public hospitals report showed more than three-quarters of women felt engaged in their care during and after birth, compared to less than seven in ten across NSW.
But Dubbo Hospital performed significantly below the state average on cleanliness, with fewer than half of women saying the wards, rooms, toilets or bathrooms used after birth were ‘very clean’.
“Since the conduct of the Bureau of Health Information survey, Dubbo maternity services have relocated into new accommodation, greatly improving the standard and amenity of maternity and birthing facilities at the hospital,” the Western NSW LHD spokesperson said.
“Dubbo Hospital performed well across all other criteria surveyed.”
Earlier: Women who gave birth at Dubbo Hospital in 2015 felt more engaged in their maternity treatment than the state average, according to a new report.
The Bureau of Health Information (BHI)’s Patient Perspectives: Experiences of maternity care in NSW public hospitals report summarises survey results from around one in 20 (4739) women who had a baby in a NSW public hospital in 2015.
At Dubbo Hospital, 1146 women gave birth in 2015, with 78 of them responding to the survey.
Of those surveyed, 77 per cent said they were ‘definitely involved in decisions during labour and birth’ (compared with a NSW average of 71 per cent), 88 per cent said their birthing companion was ‘definitely’ involved as much as they wanted to be (NSW: 85 per cent) and 76 per cent were ‘definitely involved in decisions about discharge from hospital’ (NSW: 65 per cent).
Nine in 10 women said their ‘midwives or doctors ‘always’ explained things in an understandable way during labour and birth’ (NSW: 85 per cent), while 77 per cent of women said they ‘did not receive conflicting information from health professionals after birth of baby’ (NSW: 68 per cent).
But Dubbo Hospital performed significantly below the state average on cleanliness. Just 49 per cent of women said the wards or rooms used after birth were ‘very clean’, while just 41 per cent said the toilets and bathrooms were ‘very clean’.
Across NSW, BHI chief executive Dr Jean-Frederic Levesque said almost eight in 10 women said they would speak highly about the hospital where they had their baby.
“Women were particularly positive about the care they received during labour and birth with 95 per cent saying it was either very good or good,” Dr Levesque said.
Although 88 per cent of women said the postnatal care they received in hospital was good or very good, fewer were happy with their antenatal care, labour and birth or follow-up care at home.
Only 52 per cent of women – and 47 per cent of first-time mothers – said they were ‘completely’ given enough information about how to care for their baby.
Only four in 10 women said they had their first antenatal appointment within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, as recommended.