Since supervision was removed from legislation, the four UK countries have developed four different models.
The second question time of day one of the RCM annual conference 2017 (31 October) saw six speakers share their expertise of the different models, as well as the learnings from two pilot sites.
The speakers revealed that prior to any changes, the four countries had been asked to establish a taskforce to assess what midwives and women who used maternity services wanted in a new model.
Jess Read, regional maternity lead for London, NHS England outlined the resulting A-EQUIP model in NHS England.
On where we are now, she revealed that ‘employers are increasingly engaging with the A-EQUIP model,’ and that ‘by January 2018, there will be 112 trained PMAs in London’.
Deb Jackson, head of midwifery and associate director of nursing, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, outlined the model in Wales.
Deb revealed that the model has been implemented from April 2017, and will be evaluated in 12 months time by the Welsh Government.
Karen Murray, senior professional officer, NIPEC, said that the value of supervision is recognised at senior levels in Northern Ireland.
She also spoke about the NIPEC microsite which explains what midwives, HOMs and supervisors in Northern Ireland can expect to be doing (since April 2017) under the interim model of supervision.
The microsite ‘will be reviewed once the new framework has been agreed,’ she said, but in the meantime, ‘anecdotally supervision does continue.’
After outlining the model in Scotland, Professor Ann Holmes, chief midwifery advisor and associate nursing officer, Scottish Government, revealed that plans are on track for all boards to go live with the new model in January next year.
Professor Holmes also said that the digital resource from NHS Scotland on clinical supervision was ‘going down a storm.’
Finally, delegates heard about pilot sites from Carmel McCalmont of the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trust, and Sarah Dunn of Broomfield hospital maternity unit.
