Northern Ireland Midwifery Benchmarking Elaine Madden Lead Midwife Ulster Community & Hospitals Trust

Improving Patient Experience and Care through Practice and Quality Improvement NIPEC Conference, 27 th March 2007 Hilton Templepatrick Hotel

Improving Patient Experience and Care through Practice and Quality Improvement NIPEC Conference, 27 th March 2007 Hilton Templepatrick Hotel Establishment 12th September Aimed at working together to share and progress midwifery practice. Representatives from each maternity unit in Northern Ireland. Benchmarking was seen as a method of developing practice standards, which could be utilised in each of the maternity units. Benchmarking is a self-regulating initiative aimed at identifying best practices and improving clinical practice.

Improving Patient Experience and Care through Practice and Quality Improvement NIPEC Conference, 27 th March 2007 Hilton Templepatrick Hotel Establishment - Continued Benchmarking is about setting standards of care and therefore providing a record of expected care that should be available within a given setting. Benchmarks are flexible in design to encourage innovations in practices and also allow internal quality assurance. They enable review and evaluation against agreed general expectations of care. Benchmarks are not a checklist of care rather a source of guidance.

Improving Patient Experience and Care through Practice and Quality Improvement NIPEC Conference, 27 th March 2007 Hilton Templepatrick Hotel ONE EXAMPLE Pregnancy loss Ensuring staff supported Women have full information Correct documentation Best follow up procedures (sample in pack)

Improving Patient Experience and Care through Practice and Quality Improvement NIPEC Conference, 27 th March 2007 Hilton Templepatrick Hotel Sharing Knowledge Domestic Violence Ante-natal Screening BCG risk assessments Early Warning Systems Maternity Care Assistants New ways of working Learning from others experiences