National Maternity Voices (NMV) is a member of theĀ Maternity Consortium, aĀ Health and Wellbeing Alliance (HWA) group led by Tommys and Sands.
The the resources the Consortium has produced so far are available on the National Voices HWA resource library.Ā NMV has contributed to a range of Consortium projects since it started, and you can find some of these on FutureNHS, including the learning module to support MNVPs in the implementation of equity and equality plans.
The Consortium started its year 4 work in October and this will finish in March 2025. This year’s work is focused on a project about understanding service userĀ and healthcare professional experiences of interpreting services in Maternity and Neonatal care and NMV is contributing to this.
Year 4 Project Background:
- Issues with translation andĀ interpretingĀ services in maternity and neonatal settings are consistently identified across numerous reports and are resulting in avoidable harm
- Too-often inappropriate steps are taken to translate/interpret, which run counter to nationally agreed standards.
- Reports have raised issues around poor documentation ofĀ interpretingĀ need, and inadequate response to requests for interpretation. Where translation andĀ interpretingĀ services are available, they are not always used by healthcare professionals.
While general issues with these services have been well documented, there is less insight from the perspective of healthcare professionals wanting to support service users with language and interpretation needs.Ā
What the Maternity Consortium is doing:Ā
- conducting a review of existing evidence about the quality and use of interpretingĀ services in NHS maternity and neonatal services to inform engagement with healthcare professionals.
- conducting interviews/focus groups with healthcare professionals to understand their experience of using these services and the barriers they may face in doing this effectively.
- findings from the review and engagement will be written up in a report and shared at an online event.
What NMV is contributing to the Consortiumās project:Ā
- Finding about what MNVP leads are hearing about the quality and use of interpreting services in NHS maternity & neonatal services from different perspectives ā service users, providers, commissioners
- Gathering insights from MNVPs about what actually happens instead of what should happen in relation to the use of interpreting services in NHS maternity & neonatal servicesĀ – to see consistency and variations
- Finding out about the extent to which MNVP leads and reps are supported and resourced to reach out to, and hear from service users with language needs
To this end, NMV are collating the experiences of trust, LMNS, ODN, and regional service user rep leads via this survey, in relation to the use and quality of interpreting services in NHS maternity and neonatal services.
Service user leads can also sign up for a focus group before the end of January 2025 to share more about their experiences of the use and quality of interpreting services in their area and work. If you have been involved in projects relevant to interpreting services and would like to share about it, please email Mo@nationalmaternityvoices.org.uk.