Maternity care flaws may put patients at risk, says report - Guardian
Extract:
"NHS trusts could be risking the safety of mothers and babies by using maternity support workers to do the work of trained midwives, a report says today.
The independent study for the Department of Health found a number of trusts across England were converting midwife positions into posts for lesser-qualified maternity support workers (MSWs).
The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has always insisted MSWs would not be used as substitutes for professionally qualified midwives. But the report found they were doing tasks deemed within the role of midwives and requiring specialist midwifery knowledge and training.
The report said a lack of consistency in the training and role of MSWs had the potential to leave midwives and hospital managers uncertain about their competence, and placed patients at risk from a low standard of care."
Cutting down on salt and salty food is good for the health of pregnant mothers and their unborn babies. - See pregnant mothers
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Showing posts with label midwives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midwives. Show all posts
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Award-winning maternity unit will close despite pledge
Trust to shut award-winning maternity unit despite pledge - Guardian
Extract:
"An NHS foundation trust is planning to close an award-winning midwife-led maternity unit despite the government last week promising every woman the option of such a delivery.
Heavily pregnant women in north Derbyshire will have to travel up to 21 miles on country roads because of plans to close the Darley Dale unit and cut community midwife numbers from 50 to 33.
Last week, after the health secretary said every mother would have the choice of home, hospital or midwife-led birth by 2009, the Guardian revealed that six out of nine English regions do not employ enough midwives to meet the most basic standards of care. The east Midlands already has the second-worst provision of midwives in the country, according to Guardian figures.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Trust says each birth at the eight-bed unit costs £3,217 compared with the £1,000 allocated by the government, meaning it loses £312,000 each year. The inefficiency comes because only 120 babies are born at the unit annually compared with 2,700 at the hospital, yet it has to be staffed by two midwives around the clock."
For a healthier pregnancy and a healthier baby, and to avoid excess weight gain during pregnancy, try to avoid eating salt and salty food. See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Extract:
"An NHS foundation trust is planning to close an award-winning midwife-led maternity unit despite the government last week promising every woman the option of such a delivery.
Heavily pregnant women in north Derbyshire will have to travel up to 21 miles on country roads because of plans to close the Darley Dale unit and cut community midwife numbers from 50 to 33.
Last week, after the health secretary said every mother would have the choice of home, hospital or midwife-led birth by 2009, the Guardian revealed that six out of nine English regions do not employ enough midwives to meet the most basic standards of care. The east Midlands already has the second-worst provision of midwives in the country, according to Guardian figures.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Trust says each birth at the eight-bed unit costs £3,217 compared with the £1,000 allocated by the government, meaning it loses £312,000 each year. The inefficiency comes because only 120 babies are born at the unit annually compared with 2,700 at the hospital, yet it has to be staffed by two midwives around the clock."
For a healthier pregnancy and a healthier baby, and to avoid excess weight gain during pregnancy, try to avoid eating salt and salty food. See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/pregnant_mothers.html
Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
More choice in NHS maternity services promised by 2009
Hewitt promises more choice for expectant mothers by end of 2009 - Guardian
Extracts:
"By the end of 2009, every pregnant woman in England will be guaranteed the full range of choices about how and where to give birth, Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, promised yesterday.
She committed the government to a drastic improvement in NHS maternity services, but could not say how many extra midwives would be needed or how much the fuller service would cost.
She told health authorities and trusts to work out the details and make decisions about how many hospitals would have to close maternity departments as consultant-led services are consolidated into fewer hi-tech specialist centres."
"Ms Hewitt claimed every NHS facility was safe. But she said inequalities across England were "shocking". Women living in families where both partners were unemployed were 20 times more likely to die in labour. Single mothers were three times more likely to die and women living in deprived areas 45% more likely."
"Dame Karlene Davis, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, warned that the NHS would have to recruit 1,000 extra fulltime midwives by 2009 and 3,000 by 2012 to implement the strategy. Andrew Lansley, the Conservative shadow health secretary, said Ms Hewitt had failed to reconcile her promises with closures or cutbacks at 43 maternity services and an increasing shortage of midwives."
Extracts:
"By the end of 2009, every pregnant woman in England will be guaranteed the full range of choices about how and where to give birth, Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, promised yesterday.
She committed the government to a drastic improvement in NHS maternity services, but could not say how many extra midwives would be needed or how much the fuller service would cost.
She told health authorities and trusts to work out the details and make decisions about how many hospitals would have to close maternity departments as consultant-led services are consolidated into fewer hi-tech specialist centres."
"Ms Hewitt claimed every NHS facility was safe. But she said inequalities across England were "shocking". Women living in families where both partners were unemployed were 20 times more likely to die in labour. Single mothers were three times more likely to die and women living in deprived areas 45% more likely."
"Dame Karlene Davis, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, warned that the NHS would have to recruit 1,000 extra fulltime midwives by 2009 and 3,000 by 2012 to implement the strategy. Andrew Lansley, the Conservative shadow health secretary, said Ms Hewitt had failed to reconcile her promises with closures or cutbacks at 43 maternity services and an increasing shortage of midwives."
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