Digital maternity services boost thanks to bid success
Improvements and enhancements will be made to digital maternity services across our Birmingham and Solihull Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) after we were successful in bidding for national funding.
More than £500,000 has been awarded to our Trust which will help to deliver an enhanced experience for maternity service users and staff.
Digital tools are one of the ways we can improve safety, improve reporting, and share information with women and their families so they can feel more supported throughout their pregnancy and maternity journey.
The aim of this work is to design and develop new iterations of the patient facing application that will deliver improvements for non-English speaking patients and to understand the digital barriers and poverty that constrain women from accessing their records. Work undertaking across the LMNS will support women to overcome these barriers allowing access to information which will enhance the quality of their care and experience.
Ruth Cavey-Wilcox, Digital and BadgerNet Lead Midwife at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, said: “Our LMNS provides care for some of the most diverse communities in the country, and also some of the poorest. Overcoming barriers to those women who do not have easy access to their information is crucial if we are going to keep improving the care that they receive.
“This funding will help us to improve the experience for both patients and our staff, as well as patient safety.”
Jules Gudgeon, National Digital Midwife Lead for Maternity at NHS England and NHS Improvement, said: “With this funding we are one step closer to interoperable record sharing, regardless of location or system used, for the benefit of women and pregnant people and the clinicians caring for them.”