Former children's commissioner Sally Holland will chair the
independent assessment of all maternity and neonatal services in
Wales.
The work will focus on the safety of all maternity and neonatal
services and will evaluate the quality of services.
The assurance assessment is designed to provide real-time and
immediate assurance about the quality and safety of maternity and
neonatal services following the results of the independent review
of Swansea Bay's maternity services and concerns about other UK
maternity and neonatal units.
The voices and experiences of women and families will be at the
heart of this work - their perspectives are central to
understanding the quality, safety, and culture of services.
The independent panel of experts, led by Professor Holland, will
provide the Health Secretary with recommendations about the
future development and improvement of services.
Professor Holland will lead the Maternity and Neonatal Assurance
Assessment Oversight Panel overseeing the assessment.
She is a leading social care academic, with expertise in child
and family welfare, child protection, public involvement
equality, diversity and inclusion and brings a wealth of
experience from her time as Children's Commissioner for Wales.
She will be joined on the panel by a range of experts with
experience covering family engagement, obstetrics, midwifery and
neonatology, all with a shared interest in improving the quality
of maternity and neonatal services.
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
said:
“This assessment will scrutinise maternity and neonatal services
across Wales and provide recommendations for how they can be
improved.
“I've appointed this panel, which has a wealth of expertise
within their respective fields, across national health services,
to provide invaluable advice aiming to improve both patient care
and experience.
“We are undertaking this assessment to gain assurances about the
quality and safety of maternity and neonatal services across
Wales.”
Professor Sally Holland said:
“Maternity and neonatal services play a crucial role in ensuring
safe and positive experiences for mothers, babies and families at
a time in their lives when they need the best possible care.
“In this assessment we will ensure that their voices and
experiences are at the heart of our work, and that we identify
both excellent practice and areas where improvements are urgently
needed.
“I am looking forward to working alongside the expert panel to
make sure women, babies and families receive the best care
possible, wherever they live in Wales.”
The expert panel members are:
-
Ken Sutton – Previously the Director for Crime
and Policing at the Home Office, and Secretary to the
Independent Investigation into Maternity and Neonatal Services
in East Kent.
-
Heidi Smoult – Began her career as a midwife,
and has experience in quality review, incident investigations.
Previously Chief Executive at Northampton General Hospital NHS
and Deputy Chief Inspector at the Care Quality Commission
(CQC).
-
Sue Holden – Trained as a nurse and midwife
worked clinically for 15 years and is now the Chair of
Advancing Quality Alliance (Aqua). She was previously the
National Director for Intensive Support at NHS England and NHS
Improvement and has occupied several national improvement
leadership roles in her NHS career.
-
Dr Edile Murdoch – A consultant neonatologist
in NHS Lothian Edinburgh and is one of the national specialty
advisors for NHS England maternity and neonatal programme.
-
Dr Jo Mountfield – Recently retired having
been a consultant obstetrician for more than 20 years. She is a
past chair of the specialty education advisory committee at the
Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists.
-
Professor Mary Renfrew – A leading health
researcher, with a clinical background in midwifery and was the
lead adviser for the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She spent
40 years researching infant feeding, nutrition, midwifery and
maternity care, and advised government departments and global
organisations including the World Health Organisation and
UNICEF.
The oversight panel will provide initial advice to the Health
Secretary by the end of this year.
