Trust welcomes the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s national maternity survey

The results of the 2025 CQC Maternity Survey were published on 10 December 2025. This national survey captured the experiences of 16,755 women across 119 NHS trusts who gave birth in February 2025 (and January 2025 for smaller trusts). At Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, 154 eligible people who gave birth shared their feedback.

The survey explored a wide range of topics, asking women about their experiences throughout maternity care—including antenatal care, labour and birth, as well as care in hospital after birth and postnatal support.

Sally Bryant, director of midwifery at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We work hard to ensure that we put the experiences of people using our maternity services first. We work closely with the independent Somerset Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) to listen to our service users and to keep making improvements.

“We were pleased to see the results from the national maternity CQC survey, where in comparison with other trusts across the country, the responses showed that:

• The trust scored ‘better than expected’ in questions focused on labour and birth – in particular giving appropriate information and advice on the associated risks of induced labour and ensuring that partners were involved as much as they wanted during labour and birth.
• Questions that focused on care in hospital after the birth, were scored ‘overall somewhat better than expected’ - with delays in discharge from hospital rated ‘better than expected’.
• Feedback about our staff was rated ‘about the same’ as other trusts, with positive ratings around clear communication, respect and dignity and being treated with kindness and compassion during labour and birth.

Sally added: “Feedback from families, and everyone who uses our services, is central to the improvements we are making, and we are very grateful to everyone who has shared their experiences with us.

“This year has brought significant change, including the temporary closure of inpatient maternity services at Yeovil District Hospital. Throughout this period, our focus has remained on supporting people across Somerset, especially those receiving maternity care at Musgrove Park Hospital.

“We recognise there are still areas where we must do better. Our maternity colleagues have worked incredibly hard to complete and embed actions from our CQC improvement plan and we will continue to work closely with the Somerset MNVP to listen to our service users and families to shape and further improve our services.”

You can read the full national maternity survey results on the CQC website.

We have also set up a dedicated space on our website to keep you informed and involved in all the ongoing improvement work across our maternity and neonatal services.

More information on Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s maternity services

In September 2025, we received notification that our trust is part of the national independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services that was announced by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in June.

In November 2023, the Care Quality Commission inspected the trust’s maternity services and subsequently rated the services at Yeovil District Hospital (YDH) and Musgrove Park Hospital (MPH) as inadequate.

The temporary closure of the Special Care Baby Unit and inpatient maternity service at YDH is not related to maternity services. These temporary closures are as a result of concerns about the quality, safety and fragility of the paediatric service at YDH.

Latest statement from the trust about the temporary closures - Trust planning to fully reopen the Special Care Baby Unit and inpatient maternity service at Yeovil District Hospital - Somerset NHS Foundation Trust