Maternity
A number of recent strategic policies have highlighted the need for a review of how maternity services are delivered to meet current need and to ensure that maternity teams have the right capacity and capabilities.
Skills for Health have taken the lead in developing clearly defined competences and undertaken a number of projects to help the maternity sector meet the challenges ahead.
Competences
View the competences that define the skills and knowledge needed to carry out activities within maternity care.
Workforce Planning Resources
Qualifications & Curriculum
Maternity / Midwifery Support Worker Apprenticeship
This framework developed by Skills for Health provides a route for Maternity Support Workers and is available within the Health and Social Care Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship Framework in England and Wales.
S/NVQ Level 3 in Health-Maternity and Paediatrics
This is under redevelopment as part of a government requirement to adapt all existing NVQs ready for the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the end of December 2010.
The SVQ in Health is also being redeveloped after consultation with the sector in Scotland and Maternity units will be available.
Welsh Curriculum for Maternity Support Workers
Skills for Health, the Royal College of Midwives in Wales and the National Leadership Innovation Agency for Health undertook a project to consider an All Wales Curriculum for Maternity Support Workers. Units based on Skills for Health National Occupational Standards were developed by Agored and Edexcel Awarding Organisations and are available on the Quality Assured Life Long Learning pillar of the Credit and Qualification Framework for Wales. Please click here to view these.
For help or advice on any of the qualifications email: qualifications@skillsforhealth.org.uk
Roles
W Midlands Exemplar Obstetric Theatre Maternity Support Worker (OTMSW)
This new role, (pioneered by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust) has improved the quality of care for women and babies. Support Workers have been trained to undertake the ‘scrub role’ in obstetric theatres for patients requiring a caesarean section, allowing midwives to be released from scrub tasks to focus on core midwifery duties.
Building on this success, the West Midlands SHA supported by Skills for Health, ran a maternity exemplar project testing the transferability of the new role in other maternity units across the region. It successfully demonstrated that the role could help alleviate midwife shortages across the UK.
Gateway Pregnancy Outreach Worker
Gateway provides support services predominantly to vulnerable target groups. They train people from the community to become pregnancy outreach workers, the intention being these workers can adapt the service to better meet the user needs. This model also assists previously unemployed or disadvantaged people to join the ‘skills escalator’ and move into more advanced roles in the future.
Skills for Health supported Gateway to commission an evaluation of this role to produce robust evidence for commissioners of the added value of paraprofessionals to clinical services.
View the report
Transferable Role Templates (TRT) for Maternity
Skills for Health are developing both the Obstetric Theatre Maternity Support Worker and the Gateway Pregnancy Outreach Worker role into Transferable Role Templates for UK wide availability which will be included in the SfH TRT library once completed.
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Some policies, strategies and guidance were developed under the previous government and as such may be subject to review by the Coalition Government.
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Maternity
