HOW TO IMPROVE MATERNITY SERVICES
REVERSING THE TIDE
A complex landscape
Over the last decade Maternity Services in the UK have come under intense scrutiny – from the Ockenden Report, the Morecambe Bay investigation, to Better Births and more. The NHS Maternity Transformation Programme was established to deliver the vision for safer and more personalised care across England and the national ambition to halve the rates of stillbirths, neonatal mortality, maternal mortality and brain injury by 2025. Progress has been made with fewer trusts receiving CQC ratings of 'inadequate' or 'needing improvement', and consistent improvements in continuity of care and reductions in infant mortality, stillbirth and neonatal mortality rates are seen. Yet challenges remain in understanding how to improve maternity services.
All time low in staff morale and retention
The NHS Staff Survey shows a growing proportion of staff experience negative impacts as a
result of stress in the workplace and that the proportion of staff suffering from stress is increasing.
Even before the pandemic, the 2019 UK WHELM study showed that 67% of midwives faced work-related burnout, and over 66% had thought about leaving in the last six months, not to mention those suffering anxiety, stress and depression at rates much higher than the national norm.
"Nurses and midwives are deeply engaged in the work they do and strongly motivated to make a positive difference to the lives of patients and their families.
...[but] the growing risk of mental health problems and work-related stress faced by nurses and midwives has serious implications for retention, sickness absenteeism and presenteeism, and the quality of patient care."
"The growing risk of mental health problems and work-related stress faced by nurses and midwives has serious implications for retention, sickness absenteeism and presenteeism, and the quality of patient care."
The case for workforce engagement
Engaging those at the sharp end of care delivery is key to reversing the tide. High engagement organisations demonstrate:
41% better performance in quality
66% better performance in staff wellbeing
18% better performance in productivity
23% better performance in profitability
58% fewer patient incidents
81% less absenteeism compared to low engagement organisations
(Source: Gallup, 2020)
ENGAGE TO IMPROVE
How to improve maternity services: engaging the workforce to improve quality, safety and care.
ImproveWell and colleagues from Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust uncover:
- how the current landscape in maternity services looks with regard to quality, safety, and workforce sentiment;
- how engaging the workforce to improve is the key to positive transformation; and
- lessons and best practice in engaging the workforce in improvement within the maternity services teams at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust.
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IMPROVEWELL IN ACTION
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust & ImproveWell
"All of the staff surveyed saw an improvement following the adoption of ImproveWell. And this was validated by our Trust survey where we saw an improvement in people feeling listened to. There was real buzz of excitement and real tangible change was being seen.
ImproveWell is more than a platform for ideas. It makes staff feel valued and the benefits are seen directly on shop floor. Staff do have the solution to the problem - they just never felt their voice would be worth listening to."
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust & ImproveWell
"It was really important to us to create one team; to provide a way for staff voices to be heard; and to recognise and reward Quality Improvement ideas. We wanted to empower our staff, and we wanted them to feel that they have the option of speaking up no matter what their role. ImproveWell has helped us achieve all this.
The board is very committed and is definitely looking to roll out ImproveWell within other areas of the Trust because of the positive improvements we've been able to demonstrate within maternity services."
Some #SmallButMighty suggestions from the ImproveWell community, improving operations, and staff and patient experience, one idea at a time
Independent Evaluation
South West Academic Health Science Network published an independent evaluation of the use of the ImproveWell application at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. The report demonstrates:
- ImproveWell boosts morale and engagement: 75% of staff using ImproveWell reported feeling able to improve their area of work compared to the 53% scored by the Trust as a whole.
- ImproveWell gives staff a stronger voice: 85% of users of ImproveWell felt it empowered them to implement ideas for change.
- ImproveWell helps to prioritise improvement initiatives: Staff have reported that improvements and changes were implemented at a quicker rate than before ImproveWell. Through ImproveWell, ideas get recognised and actioned.
- ImproveWell positively affects patient safety and experience, efficiencies and cost savings: The ideas suggested by staff have improved patient safety, increased efficiency, released more time for patient care, and have made significant financial savings for the Trust.
ABOUT IMPROVEWELL
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Engage the workforce to improve staff and patient experience
Giving everyone a voice, ImproveWell makes it simple for organisations to capture continuous, real-time insight from the frontline to improve staff experience and the quality of patient care.
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How it works
ImproveWell creates a continuous touchpoint with the workforce - making change simple with 24/7 real-time feedback and insight
SENTIMENT TRACKER
Track and boost workforce morale and wellbeing with real-time data, by asking your team how their workday is going.
IDEA
HUB
Gather ideas for improvement, discuss or refine collaboratively, and keep everyone up to date with progress and implementation.
PULSE SURVEYS
Understand what matters and see where improvements are needed with swift and straightforward survey creation.
IMPROVEWELL INSIGHTS
Capture real-time feedback from patients or partner organisations via customisable online portals.
DATA DASHBOARD
Detect trends or pressure points; enable data-driven decisions; measure change; and publish reports to close the feedback loop.
Impact
Creating the right environment for wellbeing at work and continuous improvement, ImproveWell delivers:
INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
