Report of the Clinical Commissioning Groups
Minutes:
The Committee received an update report and presentation relating to the Temporary Closure of Free-Standing Midwife-led birthing Services.
At the request of the Chair, the Lead Midwife Maternity Transformation Programme gave a brief overview of the Ockenden Review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals and of the Better Births Report published in 2016.
Ockenden Review - The interim report had been received and a second report was due later this year. The report raised themes which reflected recommendations of other reviews of maternity services across the Country. The Ockenden report highlighted the need for safe staffing, good foetal monitoring training, regular risk assessments and the need for learning from incidents and to include families in what we need to learn.
Better Births Report – This resulted in a national maternity transformation programme which had been translated to regional transformation programmes. Recommendations from the report had highlighted safe staffing, training and how we include our women and families when planning maternity services.
The Lead Midwife provided an overview of the presentation and report relating to the temporary closure of freestanding midwife-led birthing units (FMBUs) at Samuel Johnson Hospital in Lichfield and County Hospital in Stafford which provided low risk care maternity services.
The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) undertook engagement activity in summer 2019, information was utilised to develop and refine the Clinical Model of Care. An options appraisal process took place between November 2019 and February 2020, but the transformation programme was paused in March 2020 due to the beginning of the pandemic. At this time the birthing element at the two FMBUs were suspended in order to consolidate resource into the main maternity units. Due to current pressures, the need for safety in maternity services and that the Delta Variant was having more of an impact on pregnant women the FMBUs remain temporarily closed. The impact of the suspension of birthing units was being monitored and consultation was ongoing with families to understand what was needed for future maternity services in Staffordshire.
The following comments and responses to questions were noted:
· The engagement process to recap and sense check the previous involvement work would help understand any potential negative impact of the proposed model of care.
· Patient and staff safety was at the forefront of future maternity services to ensure a professional and safe service was being provided.
· When considering the online maternity survey, it was considered that there was a need to consult families and to reach out to minority communities. Also, to be mindful of the need for compassion in maternity care when working with families and individuals care. Healthwatch Staffordshire would offer support with this engagement.
· There was a need to communicate information about vaccination safety for pregnant women.
· The Trusts would provide revised business cases on how they could reinstate the birthing services to the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Maternity and Neonatal Programme Board in Autumn 2021 which would include development and workforce training. The earliest the on-demand model of care could go live was Autumn/Winter 2021.
Resolved:
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