Will you help us?
Please tell us about your experiences using our Maternity Services. We want to provide you with the best possible care and support during your pregnancy and after the birth of your child. It’s important to us that we hear from as many people as possible about their experience using our services so that we understand what is working well and what we can improve. Take a moment to share your feedback to help future mums, partners, and families using Maternity Services at North Bristol NHS Trust.
What is the Friends and Family Test?
A way for patients to give us feedback by answering two simple questions.
The NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT) is a quick and anonymous way for people to provide feedback on the care or treatment they received from NHS services.
The ratings and comments patients share with us help us to identify areas for improvement and to give staff the opportunity to hear about the difference they have made through the care they’ve received.
The results, in the form of the percentage of patients with a good experience, are published transparently on the NHS website.
You can find out more about how it works by watching the following FFT animations on YouTube:
What questions will you ask me?
You will be invited to complete the FFT at several points during your care. In Maternity Services this will include:
- Antenatal care – following your 36-week antenatal appointment
- Birth and care on the postnatal ward – you will be surveyed at or shortly after discharge from the ward/birth centre/following a home birth.
- Postnatal community care – you will be surveyed at discharge from the care of the community midwifery team to the care of the health visitor/GP (usually at 10 days postnatal)
You may be asked while you're still on the premises by a staff member or one of our Feedback Volunteers, or you may be contacted once you have returned home. We may ask you to give your feedback by email, feedback cards, text message, or using our website.
If you do not want us to contact you to ask for your feedback you can tell us by contacting PALS on 0117 414 4569 or by emailing PALS@nbt.nhs.uk.
North Bristol NHS Trust work with Healthcare Communications to collect FFT feedback. Our lawful basis for processing your data can be found in the Trust’s Privacy Policy. Please refer specifically to Article 6 (e) & (f) of the General Data Protection Regulations which is relevant to this project.
You may not be asked every time you visit one of our hospitals to give feedback, but you should be able to give feedback if you want to. You can:
- fill out the online form that is linked on this page
- scan a QR code found on posters across our hospitals that will take you to the survey
- fill out a feedback card in waiting areas and wards
If you cannot find a feedback card and want to fill one out, please ask a member of staff. You can always use links to the relevant surveys below:
Antenatal feedback
Birth feedback
Postnatal Ward feedback
Postnatal Community feedback
How can I find out what you have done with my feedback?
All our departments display a poster with the positive and negative scores for their department. These posters will also share some things people have told us about their experience and what we have done to improve that. You can also find the scores on the NHS England website.
Do I have to respond to the question?
Your answer is voluntary. Your answer will not be traced back to you, and your details will not be passed on to anyone.
But if you do answer, your feedback will provide valuable information for the service to celebrate positive feedback and identify opportunities to make improvements.
Is it for my friends and family members to fill out?
It is for you or your friends, family members and carers to respond to.
Why is it called the Friends and Family Test?
When the Friends and Family Test was launched in 2013, it asked people to think about whether they would recommend the service to their friends or family members.
In April 2020 changes were made to the FFT to make it easier to respond to and for staff to make better use of the feedback. As a result, it no longer asks this question about friends and family members, but it is still called the Friends and Family Test.
Accessible to all
We want to make sure that everyone is enabled to give feedback about their care. The web version of our survey has a button built in that adds text-to-speech, reading and translation support. However, if you need assistance due to a disability or mental health condition or you need a paper copy of the survey, please contact us by telephoning 0117 414 4569 or emailing PALS@nbt.nhs.uk.
A friend or family member is welcome to answer the question on your behalf, if this is appropriate.
If you feel that you should have been given the opportunity to respond, but did not receive the question, you can give feedback on this page by selecting the relevant survey below: