Overview
Evidence and practice from the UK and abroad has shown that harm in maternity services is often related to poor communication, failure to plan, poor team dynamics or lack of standard responses to clinical information and emergent situations.
The aim of this programme of work is to improve the safety and reliability of obstetrics and midwifery through a teamwork solution, by developing exceptional clinical leadership skills, team practices and unit-level improvement capability in four UK hospitals.
What are we doing?
We have commissioned Pascal Metrics, Social Apgar™ partner, to engage and support the maternity units of four NHS organisations in a range of activities that aim to increase positive perceptions of teamwork and collaboration. The programme also aims to build the organisational capacity to use analytic and other tools in order to support ongoing learning and improvement.
The two-year programme commenced in June 2009. The participating sites are Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, Luton and Dunstable NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Tayside and North Bristol NHS Trust.
What will the programme involve?
The participating sites are engaging in a combination of training, ongoing measurement and peer support activities including:
- leadership engagement at both senior and clinical level
- cultural assessment at specific clinical unit and care provider level to help identify where hospitals are vulnerable, reducing risk and enabling the integration of patient safety into overall metrics
- dedicated team training tailored to each site based on the cultural survey and observation data to improve teamwork and communication
- walk-rounds to build a systematic and cyclic flow of information between senior leaders and clinical providers to improve care and reduce clinical risk
- dedicated support to ensure reliable processes of care (examples include the importance of adopting standard approaches to interpretation of electronic foetal heart rate monitoring)
- training on practical improvement methodology and measurement for improvement and intervention.
In addition to positive effects on teamwork, the maternity teamwork solution also seeks to achieve clinical outcome goals. Relevant indicators will be identified by the participating sites themselves with the support of Pascal Metrics and the Health Foundation.
The support provided by the Health Foundation covers:
- The programme of activities and support designed and delivered for us by Pascal Metrics, Social Apgar™ partner. This covers the running of five collaborative meetings with safety champions from the four hospitals to facilitate shared learning and expert support delivered through a mix of onsite meetings, remote faculty support and online sessions
- Direct funding to each participating organisation to contribute towards programme staff time for dedicated activities and short term start-up for new permanent posts or activities linked to education and training.