Well life has been busy in the Phillips household (stressing about primary schools, drowning in Ofsted reports, and wondering if I will have a job to return to as redundancy looms) which has led to a delay in getting this post written and now my memory of the meeting is getting hazy so please be patient with me...........
With 10 agenda items and 2 hours it was a tight squeeze....
Key actions from the meeting included:
A forum event for seldom heard mums experiences of Lewisham's maternity services will be planned for early 2010, led by the PCT with support from UHL and 3 of the Service User reps hopefully the first of many.
Appointed a new Service User rep to UHL's Labour Ward Forum meeting.... Thank you Caroline and Jessica.
'Walking the Patch' (involves service user reps becoming volunteers at the hospital and conducting some qualitative interviews with women on Mat ward 5 and reporting back to the hospital and MSLC) Currently we have one walking the patcher (Gaela) but a few of the Service User reps are keen to participate and now have the contacts they need to proceed.
Update on the birth centre - around 210 births at the date of the meeting, feedback is being collated and is in general very positive.
However, news from Mat ward 5 was less than positive, a recent walking the patch feedback and other anecdotal feedback suggests low staff morale, rudeness of staff and a lack of support with breastfeeding and expressing. In the case of breastfeeding and expressing this was the reported in more than one instance in recent weeks for mums with babies in special care, where they were not supported and enabled to breastfeed their babies and express breast milk. One mum was told that the ward did not have breast pumps and she would have to arrange her own. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. On the up side UHL has just recruited 30 new midwives to the Trust who are in the process of being orientated in to UHL's practices. The new Patient Information Booklet is about to go to print (I hope) and should be available soon.
The MSLC will be amending the terms of reference for the committee to review the membership of the committee if they have missed 3 or more meetings they will be contacted to ensure a replacement in the case of a professional and allow a space for another service user to attend.
Changes in the NHS - The NHS White Paper 2010, sets out radical changes for the structures of the NHS over the coming years but does not talk about what will happen with MSLC's though the Government says we are still important... so where will that leave us? Not sure. We will be contacting other MSLC's in SE London to put forward some ideas of where MSLC's might sit in the future and the roles we can play...watch this space.
Finally, the committee now has some permanent administration support (Welcome Vannette) and hopefully this will mean I will have the minutes and other bits and bobs posted on this blog shortly with some techie help from Jessica.
Hope this covers most of the major points.
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
The Audit of UHL Supervisor of midwives Sept 2010
Well it has been a quiet month or two as everyone has there summer breaks but it is full steam ahead now... with one training afternoon and MSLC meeting already planned for September I was not expecting to have anything else to do .... but then an email arrived from UHL inviting me to attend the audit of supervisor midwives at Lewisham contucted by LSA (The Local Supervisory Authority of midwives) "never heard of 'em" I hear you cry ... well me to. They provide statutory supervision of midwifery and more information can be found here.
The morning began with a presentation from Lewisham's supervisor midwives talking about specific areas of study being undertaken at the hospital such as an audit of perineal tearing, and study on vaginal birth after a C - section (VBAC) along with updating the auditors on recent changes like the new birth unit and key areas for improvement. The Auditors led by Jess from the LSA and three other supervisor midwives from other hospital trusts then took a look at the evidence against the following 5 standards.
1. Supervisors of Midwives are available to offer guidance and support to women accessing a midwifery service that is evidnece based in the provision of women centered care.
2. Supervisors of midwives are directly accountable to the Local Supervising Authority for all matters relating to statutory supervision of midwives and a local framework exists to support the statutory function.
3. Supervisors of Midwives provide professional leadership and nurture potential leaders.
4. Supervisors of Midwives are approachable and accessible to midwives to support them in their practice.
5. Supervisors of Midwives support midwives in providing a safe environment for the practice of evidence based midwifery.
Well you will be pleased to know that UHL Supervisors of Midwives met all five of the standards there were a few recommendations and couple of areas of concern for Lewisham's Supervisor Midwives to take action on. As the 'service user' for the day I was sent off with one of teh auditors to chat to women in the waiting room in Women's health and went up to mat ward 5 to find out from women themselves about how they had accessed midwifery services, via the GP or the direct access services, whether they had been given a choice about where they birth, choice of hospital, home, birth centre, and whether they had a positive experience of midwifery or not and if they had heard of supervisors of midwives ... he he he... no one had funnily enough. But in each area of the hospital visited there were posters up. Generally the women had accessed midwifery through the GP, only one had felt like she had been given a choic of where she gave birth. The Lady we spoke to on Mat ward 5 who had just given birth the day before reported a positive experience.
After chatting with the women, I shadowed the auditors for the rest of the day ... took another tour of the birth centre this time with all its finishing touches in place and yes it still looks wonderful but seeing it after being up to Anderson (labour ward) you can really feel the difference in atmosphere, comfort and sense of space and calm. The birth centre had 68 births in August so numbers are on the up. Unfortunatley the two friends I hoped would get the luxury of the birth centre had babies with other plans... which is always the way with this baby making business.
The morning began with a presentation from Lewisham's supervisor midwives talking about specific areas of study being undertaken at the hospital such as an audit of perineal tearing, and study on vaginal birth after a C - section (VBAC) along with updating the auditors on recent changes like the new birth unit and key areas for improvement. The Auditors led by Jess from the LSA and three other supervisor midwives from other hospital trusts then took a look at the evidence against the following 5 standards.
1. Supervisors of Midwives are available to offer guidance and support to women accessing a midwifery service that is evidnece based in the provision of women centered care.
2. Supervisors of midwives are directly accountable to the Local Supervising Authority for all matters relating to statutory supervision of midwives and a local framework exists to support the statutory function.
3. Supervisors of Midwives provide professional leadership and nurture potential leaders.
4. Supervisors of Midwives are approachable and accessible to midwives to support them in their practice.
5. Supervisors of Midwives support midwives in providing a safe environment for the practice of evidence based midwifery.
Well you will be pleased to know that UHL Supervisors of Midwives met all five of the standards there were a few recommendations and couple of areas of concern for Lewisham's Supervisor Midwives to take action on. As the 'service user' for the day I was sent off with one of teh auditors to chat to women in the waiting room in Women's health and went up to mat ward 5 to find out from women themselves about how they had accessed midwifery services, via the GP or the direct access services, whether they had been given a choice about where they birth, choice of hospital, home, birth centre, and whether they had a positive experience of midwifery or not and if they had heard of supervisors of midwives ... he he he... no one had funnily enough. But in each area of the hospital visited there were posters up. Generally the women had accessed midwifery through the GP, only one had felt like she had been given a choic of where she gave birth. The Lady we spoke to on Mat ward 5 who had just given birth the day before reported a positive experience.
After chatting with the women, I shadowed the auditors for the rest of the day ... took another tour of the birth centre this time with all its finishing touches in place and yes it still looks wonderful but seeing it after being up to Anderson (labour ward) you can really feel the difference in atmosphere, comfort and sense of space and calm. The birth centre had 68 births in August so numbers are on the up. Unfortunatley the two friends I hoped would get the luxury of the birth centre had babies with other plans... which is always the way with this baby making business.
Friday, 16 July 2010
Lewisham People's Day 10 July 2010
Well what a scorcher it was, especially inside Lewisham's NHS tent. The tent was huge 3 times what I was expecting with representation from lots of different parts for Lewisham's health services all the staff were waering the most lovely bright orange t shirts (most fetching). The maternity table was all set up when I arrived with all bits and bobs to promote the Direct access to midwives service and the new Midwife led unit http://www.lewisham.nhs.uk/our_services/women__childrens__pathology/lewisham_birth_centre.aspx. I took along a bit of information about the MSLC with an opportunity for people to leave their information.
Mostly visitors wanted to know if they could get their blood pressure checked (No) and to get their hands on the funky highlighter pens. I was hoping Novelette and Michelle (the midwives staffing the stall) could demonstrate the service with a live birth but sadly it wasn't to be.
A big plus of us being there on the day was the opportunity to meet with other health services and meet the head of engagement at community health whom the committee could do lots with to improve our enagement with those using maternity services in Lewisham to help improve the service. Also met a lovely lady from community mental health who will run talking therapy groups for people with worries and anxiety which could be useful for new mums... Can't find her card though oopps. Just found it Naomi Mwasambili, Community Development Worker at Sth London and Maudsley NHS trust Lewisham psychological therapies service.
Caroline, Jessica, Daniela please comment and add your experiences of the day. It was a start what can we do next year to make it better?
Mostly visitors wanted to know if they could get their blood pressure checked (No) and to get their hands on the funky highlighter pens. I was hoping Novelette and Michelle (the midwives staffing the stall) could demonstrate the service with a live birth but sadly it wasn't to be.
A big plus of us being there on the day was the opportunity to meet with other health services and meet the head of engagement at community health whom the committee could do lots with to improve our enagement with those using maternity services in Lewisham to help improve the service. Also met a lovely lady from community mental health who will run talking therapy groups for people with worries and anxiety which could be useful for new mums... Can't find her card though oopps. Just found it Naomi Mwasambili, Community Development Worker at Sth London and Maudsley NHS trust Lewisham psychological therapies service.
Caroline, Jessica, Daniela please comment and add your experiences of the day. It was a start what can we do next year to make it better?
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