New Mothers: Do You Have the Best Doctor or GP for your Baby?
Life changes when you’re a new mother, how do you ensure you have the best doctor or GP for both yourself and your baby? As a pregnant women and then a new mother you will be more reliant on the advice and diagnosis provided by your local doctor. A positive bond and good communication between doctor and patient will hopefully exist and develop during pregnancy. The care and treatment options available can be overwhelming, having a good family GP / patient relationship can help. This relationship can hopefully develop further after your child is born.
Contents
1. Finding the Best GP Practice for my Baby
2. Can I Compare GP Practices to Find the Best Doctor for my Baby?
3. How to Register Your Baby Quickly with a GP
4. Best Doctor for my Baby: Childhood Immunisation
5. Best GP for Mother and Babies: Explanations of tests and treatments
6. Great Doctors for New Mothers: Being listened to
7. Mother of a Baby and Unhappy with Access to Health Care
8. Summary Mothers: Do You Have the Best Doctor or GP for your Baby?
After the life changing event of becoming a mother you will enter various new areas of the health system with home visits and clinics. New NHS services will be offered, information is available online, but your local GP Practice and doctor is central to this system The best family doctors will guide new mothers through this process, taking time to explain options and offering advice.
There are over 7,000 GP Practices in England, most women are happy with the care and treatment they receive, however some patients are unhappy. A new mother should have confidence and trust in the care being provided to herself and her baby. The NHS in England provides help to show make sure you are getting the best from your local GP, the BestDoctorNearMe.co.uk website shows how to use this information.
Finding the Best GP Practice for my Baby
Not all doctors offer the same care for babies, it is important to find the best GP Practice for your baby. A good doctor will offer specialist clinics and support. Choosing a good health centre can be confusing, especially if you hear conflicting positive or negative stories about doctors in your local area. The NHS provide information to show the best GP Practices in local areas, helping you find treatment you are happy with. Comparing how GP Practices are rated for the care and treatment provided to babies and new mothers is easy with BestDoctorNearMe.co.uk.
Can I Compare GP Practices to Find the Best Doctor for my Baby?
As a NHS patient in England you can compare GP practices, to find the best doctor for your baby. Before we dive into comparing GP Practices to find the best for new mothers and babies, we need to highlight your rights to change doctors. Our CHANGE GP page shows your rights as a patient and what to do if you are unhappy, have moved home, or have any other reason to change doctor. Not all care and treatment within the English NHS is of the same standard. Some family practices offer better treatment than others. Other factors such as how you relate and communicate with your GP may be not be good. You may be unhappy with the availability of appointment times, the quality of facilities or the attitude of reception staff. There are many different reasons for not being happy with the health care provided. It is your right as a NHS patient to be able to leave one practice and register with another.
The BestDoctorsNearMe.co.uk website aims to highlight how to compare GP Practices to find the best for you and your baby. The HOW TO CHANGE GP page explains the process for moving provider if necessary, explaining how to apply for and register with a new practitioner.
How to Register Your Baby Quickly with a GP
After registering the birth of your baby you should be given a card to help register with a GP. It is best to register with a medical practice quickly, just in case you need help and support unexpectedly. You can see a GP before registering the birth, simply go to the surgery and follow their registration procedures. Many good doctors will have specialist child health clinics or create special times when they will see new babies.
Best Doctor for my Baby: Childhood Immunisation
The English NHS compares how well immunisation for new babies and children under one is completed by GP Practices. Health advice states children and babies should receive immunisation against a number of conditions within childhood. New Mothers can compare how well local doctors meet the target for immunising babies and toddlers under the age of one year old against vaccinations for:
- Diphtheria,
- Tetanus,
- Polio,
- Pertussis,
- Haemophilus influenza type b
These are recommended vaccinations for children and are classified as a full course. The higher the vaccination rate within a medical practice the better. There may be valid reasons for one health centre having a higher rate of immunisation than another locally. This could be due to hard-to-reach groups of the population. Practices in a close vicinity will often face the same problems and so similar score may be expected. New mothers may question why one local practice has a lower immunisation rate than other practices close by.
Checking and comparing local full course of recommended vaccines rates is free and easy. Go to the Best GP in my Town page and choose childhood immunisation from the ‘metric group’. Enter your post code as directed and sort by ‘Proportion of children aged 1 with full course of recommended vaccines’. Then update the results. Higher percentages are better. Practices with ‘Above England Standard’ may be better than those ‘Below England Standard’.
New mothers can also assesses how good local doctors meet vaccination targets for children aged up to two. This is summarised on the same web page, using the ‘Childhood vaccinations up to age 2’ column. Scores are out of 10, so the higher the GP Practice’s score the better. Going to the ‘sort by’ section and choosing ‘Childhood vaccinations up to age 2’ (score out of 10) sorts these from best to worst.
Vaccines for measles mumps and rubella, meningitis C, haemophilus influenza and pneumococcal conjugate are all included within the important NHS GP rating for new mothers.
Best GP for Mother and Babies: Explanations of tests and treatments
New mothers rely on explanations from a GP for the many new tests and treatments for both themselves and their baby. As a parent for the first time these tests may not be familiar. A good doctor will explain the tests being undertaken, what is being measured and any resultant treatments. Poor explanations and guidance may lead to unhappiness with the doctor and the patient may want to move health centres.
The NHS in England reviews how well GP Practices explain tests and treatments to patients. Each year thousands or patients complete a survey about the care and treatment their local family doctor provides. This information can be useful for new mothers if they are unhappy with their current GP, their regular doctor is retiring, or they need to find a new practice due to moving home. Patients from practices throughout the country provide feedback on how well their doctor explains tests and treatments. This feedback is not just provided by new parents, but all patients. A score is allocated to each GP practice, with three bandings:
- Among the best
- In the middle range
- Among the worst
These results are updated twice a year. A new mother unhappy with the explanations of tests and treatments for themselves or their baby can find if others share the same view. Comparisons can be made between GP Practices in the local area, making it possible to find the best doctor in your town for explaining tests and treatments.
Ratings for how good health centres are for explaining tests and treatments can be found by going to:
- The BestDoctorNearMe.co.uk GP Ratings page and entering your postcode
- In the ‘Topics’ drop down, choose ‘Patient Experience’
- Sort by ‘Explanations of tests and treatments’
- Update results
A tick shows the practice is rated among the best, ‘ok’ show they are in the middle range and ‘!’ indicates those GP Practices rated amongst the worst in your local area. A higher percentage score is better.
Great Doctors for New Mothers: Being listened to
All mothers should feel like they are being listened to by their doctor, especially if they have a young baby. Concerns about the health of a new baby can be very stressful and new mothers have a lot of information to take in. A good doctor should listen to the concerns surrounding babies and new mothers. Unhappiness in care and treatment can result from a feeling that your GP is not listening to your worries. If you have family or friends that use the same doctor you can ask their opinion. Some women may not have that opportunity, if they have just moved to a new area or recently joined a new practice due to a previous doctor retiring.
The NHS in England surveys patients to find their views on how well patients feel they are being listened to. This information is free to access and can be useful in comparing the best GP Practices in the area, or choosing a new health centre.
- Go to the BestDoctorNearMe.co.uk GP Ratings page
- In the ‘Topics’ drop down, choose ‘Patient Experience’
- Sort by ‘Being listened to’
- Update results
A tick shows the practice is rated among the best, ‘ok’ show they are in the middle range and ‘!’ indicates those GP Practices rated amongst the worst in your local area. A higher percentage score is better. Don’t suffer health care where you are not being listened to. Consider raising this issue with your doctor, or if you are very unhappy with the health care provided it may be worth considering changing GP Practice.
Mother of a Baby and Unhappy with Access to Health Care
A mother of a baby should not be unhappy with access to health care. If your child is unwell, or you have health concerns it is important to be able to speak to a member of the health profession quickly. There are a number of different sections of the English NHS that can be contacted in this situation including 111, Accident and Emergency, Walk In Centres or your local family doctor. Picking up the phone is often the first step in contacting the National Health Service to discuss health issues.
Being able to get through to your local doctor by telephone is important. Mothers should be able to access the care and treatment they need quickly, especially when they are worried about a baby’s health. All patients, including new mothers are surveyed by the NHS in England twice a year to rate how easy it is to get through to someone at your GP surgery by phone.
To compare how easy it is to contact doctors in your local area by phone simply go to:
- BestDoctorsNearMe.co.uk GP Ratings page
- In the ‘Topics’ drop down, choose ‘Patient Experience’
- Sort by ‘Ease of phone contact’
- Update results
The best GP Practices will have a ‘tick’ in this column and a high percentage. The higher the percentage the more satisfied patients are. The worst medical centres will have an ‘!’, indicating a low rating. Most local family doctors will be in the middle, as shown by an ‘ok’.
These results may justify your feelings about the care and treatment provided. Ratings could also be used if you are a new mother unhappy with access to care and treatment and want to find the best GP Practice locally.
Summary Mothers: Do You Have the Best Doctor or GP for your Baby?
Mothers can compare ratings to find the best doctor or GP for their baby. Mothers should not worry about their own health care, or that of their babies. The free to use tools highlighted on this page can help women make informed decisions about the NHS care they are receiving. No mother should be unhappy with care and treatment for their baby. As a NHS patient in England you have the right to compare GP Practices and change doctors if appropriate.