To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November to Question 186351 on Multiple Births: Antenatal Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that maternity champions highlight that work in each NHS Trust.
Answered on
7 December 2018
As outlined in the Safer Maternity Care action plan in 2016, networks such as Maternity Clinical Networks are most effective when built on supportive multi-professional relationships and collaborative working with a focus on specific initiatives to improve care quality. Therefore, Maternity Clinical Networks were asked to designate a Maternity Safety Champion to act as a local quality improvement adviser, coach and conduit for sharing learning arising from national and international research and from local investigations or initiatives.
Maternity Safety Champions at every level – trust, regional and national – are working across regional, organisational and service boundaries to develop strong partnerships and to create the professional culture and leadership needed to deliver better care. They play a central role in ensuring that mothers and babies, including in cases of multiple pregnancy, receive the safest care possible.