Service satisfaction on discharge from a psychiatric mother and baby unit: a representative patient survey.

In this representative survey of 57 women before discharge from a psychiatric mother and baby unit satisfaction levels were high for most aspects of the service. However, the qualitative part of the study highlighted issues that were not captured by completion of the satisfaction questionnaire. These included a need for greater support from nursing staff and a high level of distress about interactions with children's social workers in some patients. The latter aspect requires further exploration. For future surveys we recommend to use quantitative as well as qualitative methodology.