Maternity Programme moves towards delivery
An update from the Chair of the NHS England Maternity Transformation Programme.
The Maternity Transformation Programme is now well underway and it feels like with each meeting we are moving further and further into the delivery phase.
The Board recently held its tenth meeting and reported on the huge amount of work being done to further the aims of the programme which I outline very briefly.
A total of 44 Local Maternity Systems (LMSs) have now been established across the country and are already bringing together their plans to implement Better Births.
By October every part of England will have made substantial progress. The programme is supporting LMSs to do this via useful products coming from all nine of the national work streams, direct engagement when requested, a bespoke support offer to each LMS and ensuring LMSs have as much information as possible about existing outcomes and the quality of their services.
I was thrilled to host the first LMS Leaders Day on 18 July. The event brought together local leaders from across LMS’, and the national team. Discussions were lively and productive and the event allowed everyone to share progress, voice concerns and offer suggestions for areas of additional national support. I look forward to meeting again in November.
NHS England will soon be publishing helpful guidance around implementing continuity of carer – a key recommendation set out in Better Births. This guidance will not provide a precise blue-print, rather help LMSs develop a model of care which works for them, whilst staying true to the principle of continuity covering the antenatal, postpartum intra-partum and post-natal stages of pregnancy, reflecting the needs of local women, their babies and their families.
We have always said that workforce is the heart of delivering the improvements described in Better Births and Health Education England reported back on the progress they have made on the Maternity Transformation Workforce Interim Report. This includes an assessment of the existing workforce in maternity services. The next stage is to look at local demand and the impacts of the policies in Better Births leading to a full maternity workforce delivery plan.
The Department of Health reported on the progress being made towards standardising investigations into maternity and neonatal deaths. We know maternity services have never been safer, but when things go wrong the consequence is catastrophic. It is incredibly important to the families, and to healthcare professionals, that investigations are thorough, timely and that lessons are learnt and applied.
There is a lot of work taking place to get investigations right across the whole NHS system, not just in maternity, but for me, maternity requires something subtly different.
Each Baby Counts is an important tool and there is no reason why each and every baby death in the country should not be assessed and reported at Board level using it. Then, where appropriate, initiating and properly utilising the Serious Investigations Framework is key.
We will be working hard to ensure the framework is understood and followed across maternity services in England, and using the LMS and Board level Governance to produce and implement action plans which result from each investigation. Again, more on this will follow.
In relation to when things go wrong, the Maternity Bereavement Experience Measure has recently been published by the London Clinical Networks. The questionnaire and supporting resources were created collaboratively by Sands, NHS England and the London Maternity Clinical Network. The feedback received from this survey will provide a unique insight into the experiences of bereaved families and, most critically, will be instrumental in informing improvements in care.
Finally, a plug: the Maternity Transformation Programme has secured a main stage slot at NHS Expo on the 12th Sept. I am delighted to have this opportunity to talk to healthcare leaders about the improvements we are making to maternity services. This is our moment and we cannot let it pass us by.
So plenty going on, and plenty still to come. Our next Board meeting follows on the 17 October 2017.
Sarah-Jane Marsh
Sarah-Jane Marsh is Chief Executive Officer of Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital and chairs both the NHS England Maternity Transformation, and the Children and Young People Transformation programmes.
She joined the NHS via the Graduate Management Scheme, holding various roles in primary and secondary care and at the Department of Health, before promotion to Director of Planning and Productivity at Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust.
Appointed Chief Operating Officer at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in December 2007 and Chief Executive Officer in March 2009, the hospital has been under her leadership for almost eight years and was named ‘Provider Trust of the Year’ by the Health Service Journal in 2015.
In 2015, Sarah-Jane took on the additional role of Chief Executive of Birmingham Women’s Hospital, before going on to integrate the two hospitals in February 2017 to create Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust – the first of its kind in Europe.
She also led the development of an innovative new mental health partnership for 0-25 year olds in the city – Forward Thinking Birmingham – another UK first.
Sarah-Jane chairs the NHS England Maternity Transformation Programme Board, which aims to make maternity care across England safer, and give women greater control and choice, as well as the Children and Young People Transformation Programme Board, which brings together partners across health, care and education to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Her passions are exceeding the expectations of patients and families and making Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital the very best place to work and be cared for.