Healthwatch Bromley has published its latest report on the borough’s healthcare, looking into the maternity and screening services provided by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT).
It follows a study which collected responses from 242 Bromley residents, 92 per cent of whom rated their overall experience of accessing maternity services as “good” or “very good”.
However, less than half of respondents (45 per cent) deemed communication between the hospital and their GP practice to be “good”, with several highlighting this as an area for improvement.
One person said: “Miscommunication; doctor said induction, but we had to wait 12 hours with no pain relief.”
Another commented: “We had a really bad experience getting an X-ray on the second day.
“Inter departmental communication meant baby was left for nearly two hours waiting.”
As well as the survey, the Healthwatch team visited the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) and Orpington Hospital weekly between September and December 2025, collecting case studies of difficult patient experiences.
In one account, a mother told the Healthwatch team that she believes the size of her baby was not properly investigated or acted upon, and that her requests for a planned caesarean were dismissed – despite being two weeks overdue with a large baby.
She claimed that she was denied access to timely pain relief and “treated with coldness and disregard” by staff during her most vulnerable moments.
The mother said: “The contrast between this experience and the exemplary care I received during the birth of my first child is staggering.
“During that birth, the midwives showed genuine kindness and respect, and I was so grateful that I returned with gifts.
“This time, I was left traumatised, dismissed, and without compassion.”
The report revealed that a small number of further comments were received about lack of care and “staff rudeness” while in hospital, with one mum saying that “the doctor there laughed at me”.
However, many other service users gave positive feedback about staff and communication, mentioning that staff were “attentive” and “supportive”, giving a “high level of care”.
As a result of the project, Healthwatch Bromley made seven recommendations to KCHFT ranging from strengthening communication, to improving facilities and patient catering.
KCHFT said that “work is ongoing” to improve its maternity services in response to the report and feedback from service users.
A spokesperson told the News Shopper: “We are grateful to Healthwatch Bromley for gathering the experiences of women and families who access maternity services at the PRUH.
“We are pleased that the majority of people who responded to the survey rated maternity services as very good or good.
“This is really positive, and testament to the efforts of staff who work incredibly hard to provide a high quality service.
“We can always improve, however, and we are using Healthwatch Bromley’s report, together with regular feedback we seek from service users, to improve maternity services at the PRUH, and this work is ongoing.”
