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Assessing Quality Care - the beginning of the journey

Abstract:

Background: When an institution is providing a maternity service it is of utmost importance that the service meets the needs of its consumers. During 2008 a number of reports were published highlighting the necessity of achieving this level of quality outcome. St George’s Maternity service, in providing primary level care to women, was motivated to assess the level of care within the unit and provide data to demonstrate quality delivery of care. Objectives: • To determine an appropriate set of standards to measure maternity care provision in a primary birthing unit. • To develop an assessment template to present the evidence against the identified standards. • To conduct an audit to measure and evaluate care provision at St George’s Maternity against the identified standards and criteria. • To invite similar primary maternity units to benchmark practice against St George’s Maternity services. Method: Care provision at St George’s Maternity was audited, in 2009, against 23 of the 30 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists ‘Standards for Maternity Care’ (RCOG, 2008). Results: All criteria were met for 21 of the 23 Standards reviewed. Conclusion: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Standards for Maternity Care (ibid) was found to be an invaluable initial tool to audit practice at St George’s Maternity, and quantitatively acquire evidence that reflects a commitment NEW ZEALAND AUDIT Authors: • Anna van Uden, MMid, BN, RM, RGON. Charge Midwife St George's Hospital Christchurch Email: anna.vanuden@stgeorges.org.nz • Lesa Freeman, PhD, MA(Hons), Grad Cert (Higher Ed), BA, RM, RGON. Midwife St George's Hospital Christchurch to excellence in service provision and ensure continuous quality improvement. An ultimate goal, however, will be to access standards that will measure quality and safety within maternity services, which are designed specifically for the New Zealand context.

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audit, maternity services, Primary birthing unit, quality care., Standards for Maternity Care