Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 159-2025
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.
You asked:
I am a freelance journalist looking into maternal healthcare in UK health trusts and boards a year on from a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Birth Trauma.
I would be grateful for responses by email to the following 13 questions, which I am sending to every UK non-specialist health trust and board.
I appreciate it is a long list of questions, and it’s quite possible not all of them will be relevant to your organisation. I also appreciate that data going back 10 years will not always be available, as your organisation may have been formed more recently than that. In this case, I would be grateful for the data stretching back as far as is possible.
1. How many vacancies do you currently have for a) midwives; b) obstetricians? (And how many members of staff do you currently have in both those roles?)
2. What is the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths recorded in your trust/board in each of the past 10 years? And what was the recorded ethnicity of those who died, if the data is available?
3. How many live births were recorded at your trust/board in each of the past 10 years?
4. What is the number of maternal deaths recorded in your trust/board in each of the past 10 years? And what was the recorded ethnicity of those who died?
5. How many medical negligence suits have arisen from incidents in your maternity department in each of the past 10 years? How many resulted in a payment being made, and how much was paid out in each of the past 10 years?
6. How many third- and fourth-degree tears have you recorded for each of the past 10 years?
7. What are your current rates of forceps use, if you keep data on this?
8. What are your current rates of ventouse assisted deliveries, if you keep data on this?
9. How many emergency caesarean sections have you carried out in each of the past 10 years?
10. How many Maternal Request Caesareans were made to staff in each of the past 10 years and how many were approved?
11. How much did your trust/board pay for use of interpreters in its maternity department in each of the past 10 years?
Our response:
Questions 1 to 11 – The Trust does not provide the service mentioned on your request. Please redirect your request to Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, at ghn-tr.foi@nhs.net.
You asked
12. How many people have received treatment as part of any MMHS (Maternal Mental Health Service) in the past year?
Our response:
Between 01 August 2024 and 01 August 2025 423 people received treatment.
You asked:
13. How many people are on the waiting list to receive treatment from the MMHS right now? And how long is the average waiting time for treatment?
Our response:
As of 27 August 2025, 36 people were on the waiting list to receive treatment. For those who received treatment between 01 August 2024 and 01 August 2025 the average waiting time was 31 days.
Next steps:
Should you have any queries in relation to our response, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request and wish to ask us to review our response, you should write to:
Louise Moss
Head of Legal Services / Associate Director of Corporate Governance
c/o Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth, GL3 4AW
E-mail: louise.moss@ghc.nhs.uk
If you are not content with the outcome of any review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for further advice/guidance. Generally, the ICO will not consider your case unless you have exhausted your enquiries with the Trust which should include considering the use of the Trust’s formal complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.