Swansea Bay independent maternity and neonatal review: update from Margaret Bowron KC, 14/05/2024

Following on from last week’s press release, I am now providing a further substantive update on progress. As you aware we have started to capture views on the expanded draft Terms of Reference.

Go here to view the expanded draft Terms of Reference.

In expanding the Terms of Reference I am working closely with the Oversight Panel and those who will conduct the Clinical; the Engagement; and Governance Reviews (the 3 workstreams). This work has been undertaken entirely independently of Swansea Bay University Health Board.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the experts undertaking the 3 workstreams:

• The Clinical Review: Alan Fenton (Consultant Neonatologist) Alan Cameron (Consultant Obstetrician) Christine Bell (Midwife) Kelly Harvey (Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner)
• The Engagement Review: Cath Broderick Independent Consultant in Patient and Public Engagement
• The Governance Review: Kate Jury, Managing Partner, Niche Health and Social Care Consulting, Paul Smith, Director of Analytics, Niche Health and Social Care Consulting. 

Cath Broderick

Cath Broderick is an independent consultant with extensive experience in patient and public engagement, communication, consultation and facilitation, working with patients, families, the NHS, Third Sector, and independent organisations. She has focused her experience and skills over recent years on building co-production and exploring different approaches so that the voices of communities and people who use services are heard and are at the heart of change and improvement. This has been illustrated through her recent experience as the Lay Member and engagement specialist for the Independent Maternity Services Oversight Panel, Cwm Taf Morgannwg. She was the author of 'Listening to women and families about maternity services in Cwm Taf' published in 2019 for the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (RCOG) / the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) review of maternity services. Cath was previously Chair of the RCOG Women's Network and is a Lay Member of the NMC Midwifery Panel.

Alan Fenton

Alan Fenton is a neonatologist who works as a neonatal adviser to the MBRRACE-UK/PMRT Collaborative. He is a past President of the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, developing national service standards and introducing Frameworks for Practice. He was the sole neonatologist on the Better Births maternity review and recommended the national Neonatal Critical Care review. He worked with Welsh Government as part of the Independent Maternity Services Oversight Panel at Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board and has participated in several independent reviews of perinatal services.

Professor Alan Cameron MD FRCOG FRCP (Glas)

Alan was a Consultant Obstetrician in Glasgow for 28 years. He retired from the NHS in 2019. He undertook his subspeciality training in Maternal Fetal Medicine in the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After this he was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Glasgow. As an NHS consultant he retained an active research profile and he was rewarded with an Honorary Professorship from the University of Glasgow in 2007. His main research interests are in prenatal diagnosis and fetal therapy. He was the Scottish Members representative on the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (RCOG) Council from 1996-2002 and was President of the British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society from 2005-08. He was the local President when the European Board of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) took place in Glasgow in 2014. In 2019 he was appointed as the national clinical lead for obstetrics to the Maternity and Children Quality Improvement Collaborative (MCQIC), part of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) at Healthcare Improvement Scotland. This work is predominately around stillbirth reduction, neonatal mortality and postpartum haemorrhage. He finished his term in this post in April 2022. In 2019 the Welsh Health Secretary appointed Alan as the obstetric lead for an independent review of a Health Board’s maternity and neonatal services. This role finished in January 2023. Alan has been a speciality maternity advisor to Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch since 2019 and was appointed as clinical advisor to the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSIB) in 2020. This is an ongoing commitment.

Kelly Harvey

Kelly has been a neonatal nurse since 2002 and has worked in a variety of clinical roles as well as education and management, latterly working as an Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. Her current role as a Senior Lead Nurse for the North West Neonatal Network allows her to fulfil her passion for ensuring neonatal care provided for babies and families across the region are of the highest standard. She was the Neonatal Nursing advisor for the National Neonatal GIRFT programme and is part of the BAPM Quality Collaborative where she was involved in the development of the quality improvement toolkits for preterm optimisation. She is an executive committee member of the National Neonatal Nurses Association, a role through which she is keen to ensure the nursing voice is heard.  Kelly has previous clinical review experience and was a part of the Independent Maternity Oversight Panel commissioned by Welsh Government to review care provided and support implementation of the Health Board’s improvement plans.

Christine Bell

Chris has 38 years’ experience as a Midwife following qualification in 1986. She has had a very successful career as a Clinical Midwife, Head of Midwifery and Operational Manager. Her last substantive post was as Divisional Director for Women’s and Children’s Services at a large NHS Trust in England. Chris has worked in seven maternity units across England ranging from low risk Midwife Led Units through to Maternity & Obstetric services in large District General Hospitals. Whilst working as a clinical midwife her interest was in high risk antenatal/intrapartum care and clinical risk management. Her steady career progression following qualification reflects this interest through the various clinical and clinical management posts held prior to being appointed to her first Head of Midwifery post in 1997.  She has provided professional expertise in the form of numerous external service reviews throughout the UK in a consultancy capacity, making recommendations to support safe practice. From 2019 until 2023 she was the Midwifery lead on an Independent Midwifery Oversight Panel, commissioned by Welsh Government to undertake a look back exercise into clinical care and provide oversight of a Health Boards Improvement Plans.   

Kate Jury, Managing Partner, Niche Health and Social Care Consulting

Kate has worked with over 350 organisations nationally in her expert field of healthcare governance during her time with Niche and also her previous role within Deloitte LLP. Kate has also led on some of the largest maternity and neonatal reviews in the country providing valuable learning for organisations and necessary assurance to families and the public. Kate will be the lead client partner on the governance elements of this review.

Niche Health and Social Care Consulting is one of the leading suppliers of independent investigations in the country. We are known for our commitment to working with families and staff within organisations to help to safely learn from issues, ultimately leading to changes in practice and improvements in outcomes and experiences.

Dr Paul Smith, Director of analytics, data analysis and pathway mapping, BSc, PhD

Paul is a highly skilled and motivated healthcare analytics and finance specialist, with over 16 years’ experience in delivering complex quantitative and qualitative analysis. He also has several years’ commercial experience in healthcare consultancy delivering multiple projects for public and private sector healthcare organisations, regulators, and government bodies. Prior to joining Niche, he has held roles at the CQC, McKinsey and Company, The Nuffield Trust, and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

Next Steps

I would urge anyone wanting to offer their views to do so via the dedicated email address has been set up for this purpose swanseamaternityreview@nicheconsult.co.uk

If you would welcome any support on how to give your feedback or want to discuss the Terms of Reference then Llais (the independent patient advocate body) are available to offer this support and can be contacted on:

E: maternityexperience@llaiscymru.org

T:  01639 683490  

Representatives from the Oversight Panel and the workstream leads would like to open up communications with families and staff and take the opportunity to explain the process by which the Terms of Reference have been developed, the process by which the Review will be undertaken and give patients and staff an opportunity to pose questions. This session will take place virtually on 20th May 2024 between 6pm and 7pm. The listening period on the draft Terms of Reference will remain open until 24th May 2024. I am committed to engaging with families and staff throughout the Review process and would encourage families and staff to attend this initial meeting with any questions they might have at this stage. 

Go here to join the Zoom webinar taking place on 20th May 2024.