What is the workstream?
Advancements in Digital technology are influencing how Maternity and Neonatal care is being delivered.
Digital tools can be used to transform the care being provided to pregnant persons and their family, drive safety, ensure a good maternity experience and ensure the patient remains at the centre of everything we do. However, this transformative work requires a specialist workforce who can support midwives and maternity teams to develop the skills and knowledge required to push this work forward.
Digital and data is the golden thread, which runs through all maternity transformation, supporting the aim of improving experience and quality of care; by supporting digital advancements, which will change the way services are delivered. Including, easier sharing and access of patient records by other health professionals and patients. Enabling patients to make a more informed decision about the care they wish to receive.
The digital and data workstream encourages collaborative working across.
- The James Paget University Hospital
- The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
- The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
- Primary Care
What are the goals and deliverables?
The digital and data workstream goals and deliverables have been established and are based on the actions set out in the ‘Three Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal services’ published March 2023.
The three-year plan clearly outlines a series of actions for trusts, Integrated Care Boards (ICBS) and NHSE, which are needed to improve safety and quality of maternity and neonatal services.
Goals
Within the plan the actions are grouped into four themes, with set objectives for each theme, with Objective 12 focusing on digital technologies.
Theme 1: Listening to and working with women and families with compassion
Objectives:
- Care that is personalised
- Improve equity for mothers and babies
- Work with service users to improve care
Theme 2: Growing, retaining and supporting our workforce
Objectives:
- Grow our workforce
- Value and retain our workforce
- Invest in skills
Theme 3: Developing and sustaining a culture of safety, learning and support
Objectives:
- Develop a positive safety culture
- Learning and improving
- Support and oversight
Theme 4: Standards and structures that underpin safer, more personalised, and more equitable care
- Standards to ensure best practice
- Data to inform learning
- Make better use of digital technology in maternity and neonatal services.
Deliverables
Over the next three years the digital and data workstream will work collaboratively with colleagues from the ICB and the three acute trusts Digital midwives and their teams to provide the following deliverables, which are outlined within the three-year plan.
ICB Deliverables
- Have a digital strategy, where possible procure one system wide to improve standardisation and interoperability.
- Lead on collaborative work, including the production of a local quality dashboard showing data at both a system and trust level.
- Use data available to compare outcomes against other areas, to understand variation and areas where improvement is required.
- Support women to set out their personalised care and support plan through digital means, monitoring uptake and feedback.
Trusts’ Deliverables
- Have an implemented Digital Maternity Strategy and road map which is in line with the ‘What Good Look Like’ (WGLL) framework.
- Review available data to highlight themes and trends as well as areas of concern, enabling timely work to be completed to address and rectify issues.
- Procure an EPR system – where that is not already being managed by the ICB – that complies with national specifications and standards, including the Digital Maternity Record Standard and the Maternity Services Data Set and can be updated to meet maternity and neonatal module specifications as they develop.
To achieve the goals and deliverables the digital and data workstream has been split in five categories, each category then has individual projects whose aim is to meet the deliverables set out in the three-year plan.
Digital and Data Workstream Projects
- Culture: Digital Reflection Tool
- Personalisation: Maternity Connect Digital Gifting, Digitalising PCSP, Patient Portal
- Data: Maternity Dashboard
- Digital: Electronic Patient Record (EPR), Shared Care Health Record (SCHR)
- BaU: Maternity Digital Strategy
Key documents
Maternity Drivers:
- Better Births Report NHSE – Feb 16: national-maternity-review-report.pdf (england.nhs.uk)
- Safer Maternity Care – Oct 16: NHS England » Patient safety alert: Resources to support safer care of the deteriorating patient (adults and children)
- State of Maternity Services RCM – 2018: state-of-maternity-services-report-2018-england.pdf (rcm.org.uk)
- The Long Term Plan NHSE – Jan 2019: NHS Long Term Plan
- Topol Review HEE – Feb 2019: The Topol Review — NHS Health Education England (hee.nhs.uk)
- Saving Lives, Improving Mothers Care MBRRACE – Jan 2021: MBRRACE-UK_Maternal_Report_2021_-_FINAL_-_WEB_VERSION.pdf (ox.ac.uk)
- Best Start for Life Report DHSC – March 2021: The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Maternity Incentive Scheme NHSR – F2b 2022: Maternity incentive scheme – NHS Resolution
- Final Report Of The Ockenden Review DHSC – March 2022: Final report of the Ockenden review – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Supporting Information:
- What Good Looks Like – NHS Transformation Directorate (england.nhs.uk): Guidance for Nursing on ‘What Good Looks Like’ – What Good Looks Like – NHS Transformation Directorate (england.nhs.uk)
- Norfolk & Waveney Digital Maternity Discovery Report – 9th May 2022 – Ethical Healthcare Consulting
- LMNS Maternity Digital Strategy
- Trust strategies
- ICB strategy