Aim

Facilitate the development of a Local Maternity System through the provision of clinical advice and support for national and local improvement service initiatives.  Within the NWC there are a number of ongoing initiatives (e.g. National Maternity Transformation Programme, the Improving ME Programme, RCOG Implementation Team – South Cumbria, Better Care Together, Healthier Lancashire and the Cheshire & Merseyside Acute Care Collaboration Women & Children’s Partnership).  This project will provide those initiatives with ongoing clinical expertise.

Outcomes

The project’s key outcome will be the inclusion of a clinical voice and clinical expertise within the Local Maternity System and the ongoing initiatives that seek to improve that system.  This will be evidenced by the inclusion of the SCN and its clinicians within the governance and delivery systems of the various regional improvement initiatives.  Through doing this the SCN will;

• Co-produce pathways of care and clinical protocols
• Produce clinical guidelines for use within the LMS
• Implement and evaluate a standardised maternity dashboard of quality indicators
• Establish clinical networks (as required) to support improvement within the region (e.g. Perinatal Mental Health)

Role of the NWC SCN

The SCN will make itself a partner within the region’s Local Maternity Systems.  It will act an as advocate for the key national priorities for service improvement (e.g. the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and the recommendations of the Better Births report).  The SCN will bring together commissioners, providers and professionals to share information, best practice and learning to benchmark against each other to drive improvements in quality focussing upon outcomes of care supporting the region’s two Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

Partners and associates in this work

Maternity Clinical Expert Group, North West Coast Perinatal Mental Health Network – C&M and L&SC Working Groups),  CAMHS Clinical Reference Group, Improving ME Programme Partners, Cheshire & Merseyside Acute Care Collaboration Women & Children’s Partnership, NHS England (The Maternity Review & Women’s Health Acute Medical Directorate)

Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologiststs, Healthier Lancashire, Cheshire & Merseyside Personalisation and Choice Maternity Pioneer.

Summary of project plan

Main activities and milestones:

Q1

• Support the publication of the Cheshire & Merseyside Acute Care Collaboration Women & Children’s Partnership Value Proposition 2 submission.
• Carry out a stakeholder analysis for Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Q2

• Establish a Maternity Clinical Experts Group within Lancashire and South Cumbria and set local priorities.
• Agree a support plan with the Cheshire & Merseyside Personalisation and Choice Maternity Pioneer programme.
• Support the creation and publication of the region’s two Sustainability and Transformation Plans.
• Establish working arrangements within maternity commissioners within Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Q3

• The project plan will be agreed with the local partners once their delivery plans have been further developed.

Q4

• The project plan will be agreed with the local partners once their delivery plans have been further developed.