Well this is likely to be my last post for 2010 and its a shame to say that the last meeting of the year was postponed due to my international gallivanting (California no less to visit dear beloved family) and then cancelled due to the SNOW...did you miss it? I do hope not...
So there is not a lot to report but I do have some bits and bobs:
At the last meeting there was some discussion about breast feeding and expressing support in the special care unit for babies at UHL.... I reported back the committee's concerns at the UHL Labour Ward forum meeting and the consultant for the ward kindly gave me a tour of the unit and discussed the plans for refurbishment which it dearly needs as provision for breast feeding and expressing is inadequate and very unpleasant. However, the plans and budget are yet to be approved. I would imagine in this age of austerity it is not a certainty that the Unit will get the face lift it really needs. One interesting comment from both the ward manager and consultant was that they used to have glider/rocking chairs for breast feeding but they had to be removed for infection control. They seem uncertain about being able to get chairs that will meet the requirements so if anyone reading this blog knows a way around this let me know... or maybe its a case of UHL's procurement peeps being more imaginative and creative! I am sure they must exist.
I would like to thank all of those who have been involved in the committee over the last year: especially those who make the meeting happen, those who attend, and those of you who check out the blog and feed in your comments and finally those of you committed to developing the midwifery services and practice in Lewisham to improve families birth experiences.
I hope to work with you all more during 2011.
Happy Christmas. x
Friday, 10 December 2010
Tuesday, 5 October 2010
Delegation is the Word - MSLC Meeting 21 September 2010
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.
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.
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.
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