'RCM launches the first service standards for midwifery services in UK'
By RCM on 20 October 2016 Maternity Services
Standards place women at centre of care and highlight crucial role of midwife in delivering and coordinating care
A new document has been published today by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) which sets out standards for high quality midwifery services for the first time. The document – the first in England to lay out standards for midwifery services - launches at the RCM’s Annual Conference, taking place in Harrogate.
The document ‘RCM standards for midwifery services in the UK’ outlines what the RCM sees as the key features which any midwifery service can use to measure its deliverer of compassionate, well-led, professional evidence-based midwifery care.
These standards place women and families right at the centre of maternity services and give midwives an evidence-based framework for delivery of quality midwifery care Six key themes are at the heart of the standards, covering staffing and leadership, communication, family-centred care and education and accountability are relevant to service providers, commissioners and midwives.
The document also highlights the midwife’s role in linking with health and social care professionals and other organisations providing services for pregnant women
Continuity of carer – having the same midwife or small group of midwives – throughout the whole of pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period and is recognised in the standards as being key to promote the physical, psychological and social well being of the woman and family throughout the pregnancy and beyond.
In addition the standards feature the importance of systems and services that foster a culture of learning and continuous improvement. This includes the importance of openness and transparency, and the need to learn and respond when things go wrong. They also highlight the necessity of supportive work practices amongst all staff in maternity services.
Louise Silverton, Director for Midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, said:“These standards outline how we believe good midwifery services should look and how they should operate. We know that delivering safe, high quality care needs the right number of staff, with the right skills, in the right places
“We also recognise that some services may need to make investments in terms of resources and staffing to meet the standards. Both systems and staff need to be in place and work well to ensure high quality care.
“We will be using the standards in our meetings with providers, commissioners and midwives and will urge them to use them to help them make quality improvements in their maternity services.”
The RCM also sense-checked the Standards with a group of senior stakeholders to find out what they thought about them and how they should be used. They said the standards were: ‘…very beneficial in driving quality in maternity services’ and that they ‘…reflect current priorities in maternity services – pulling together many of the recommendations from various sources’
They also said: ‘They are not dissimilar in some areas to what is expected and monitored in current maternity services. They are broad and overarching’.
The RCM standards for midwifery services in the UK document can be found in our Publications section.
Notes to editors
Ends
The RCM is the only trade union and professional association dedicated to serving midwifery and the whole midwifery team. We provide workplace advice and support, professional and clinical guidance and information, and learning opportunities with our broad range of events, conferences and online resources. For more information visit the RCM website at https://www.rcm.org.uk/.