Frontline Feature - Drive Through Maternity
In a brilliant response to the Covid19 pandemic, the maternity team have created a ‘drive thru’ maternity service to ensure essential procedures such as taking blood & blood pressure monitoring is being done within the safety of a car. Kate Conway, Matron for Antenatal & Gynaecology Services, told us more.
*How has it been so far?
It's been really well received by the midwives and feedback from the women who have used the service has been very positive. They have praised our efforts to keep them out of the hospital.
*How did you prepare the team for this?
Our midwives and support workers are brilliantly flexible and thrown themselves into very different models of working!
*Are there any examples of innovative working that has taken place in recent weeks?
The maternity drive thru at the cabin has been an amazing innovation that would not have been possible without the enthusiasm and positivity of the midwives pulled from the standard models of care delivery and the support of Emergency Planning and Security. Moving hundreds of face to face appointments to telephone based and asking women to drive up and have parts of their care done while sitting in the car sounds unbelievable and mad, but in these unprecedented times, we have done it and it's working really well.
*What achievements are you most proud of within the team?
The willingness to embrace change and try something completely new and unheard of, in a time of high stress and anxiety. They have worked with me to make the absolutely best possible service for our women, to ensure we can maintain high standards of safe, effective care.
*What would you say to other team’s facing this challenge?
Think outside the box. As health professionals, we have never faced this type of scenario and it is extraordinary times. Acknowledge your team’s anxieties and concerns and build on them to create new innovations.