15 steps Maternity 'Virtual Visit' - Northampton and Kettering General Hospitals
Download (PDF 1.22 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Northamptonshire and Northamptonshire’s Maternity Voice Partnership (MVP) conducted a virtual 15 Steps Visit of the labour and postnatal wards at Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital on 30 June 2020. This was a follow up of the visits that took place in April 2019 and was requested by the Local Maternity and Neonates System Board (LMNS) .
The visit took place in the midst of the Coronavirus (Covid-19)4 pandemic. Due to the pandemic there were a number of restrictions in place across the country and in hospitals. It was decided that the safest way to conduct the visits was using cameras to record the visits virtually, to both ensure the safety of volunteers and staff that were conducting the visit and also not put any extra pressure on the hospitals.
In conclusion both hospitals appear to be coping with the new way of working. The faster testing at Northampton General Hospital meant that patients’ experiences were not too disturbed by Covid-19 and in Kettering General Hospital allowances had been made to accommodate for the new changes needed to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on patients. At both hospitals it was concerning that there was a lack of ‘clean’ stickers on equipment that appeared to be ready to use.
The report includes 4 recommendations each for Kettering General and Northampton General Hospital about information to patients, cleanliness and social distancing.
The report includes a response from the providers detailing the action to be taken on the recommendations in the report.