Maternity services at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells (Mtw) NHS Trust have been shortlisted for a prestigious Award by the Health Service Journal (HSJ).
The HSJ, a weekly news print title and website on healthcare management and health policy, received over 2,000 entries.
The shortlisting in the Most Effective Adoption and Diffusion of Best Practice category is for Improving clinical outcomes and patient experience for mothers and babies having a caesarean birth. Mtw is one of eight organisations shortlisted within the category.
The HSJ commented: “Shortlisted entrants demonstrated outstanding practice and innovation that helped to improve patient care and enhance value and efficiency and have overcome fierce competition to be judged as among UK healthcare’s leading exponents.”
A multidisciplinary team (midwives, theatre staff, obstetricians and anaesthetists) collaborated to perform research and produce a short film to show what expectant mothers can do to give their baby the best possible start at a caesarean birth.
The research found that immediate skin to skin contact between mother and baby at a caesarean birth increases breastfeeding rates and improves patient experience. The subsequent film demonstrates how this can be incorporated into clinical practice in the operating theatre along with optimal timing for clamping the baby’s umbilical cord to prevent neonatal anaemia.
The film is hosted on You Tube and is influencing other maternity units in the UK. The project has also received interest from other countries including Holland, New Zealand, China and most recently the United Arab Emirates.
Comments include:
- “I think you have all done a brilliant job. It is easy to follow, informative and hopefully will change practice”
- “An informative and sensitively produced film”
Sarah Gregson, Consultant Midwife, Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, says:“This shortlisting is a real team achievement with midwives, anaesthetists, obstetricians and theatre staff working together to improve the patient experience and clinical outcomes. Ensuring we had a panel of user representatives involved in the project was very important and helped ensure its success”.
A team from maternity services will present to a judging panel on Monday 17 October and the winners are announced at the Awards ceremony in November.
To watch the video visit
Other shortlisted organisations within the category are:
• Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust; Belfast Health and Social Care Trust; Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust; Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals; NHS Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group; NHS Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group; Northern Devon Healthcare Trust, NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group and Andy Brogan