Title of story:
Changes to community and antenatal midwifery services at
King’s College Hospital
Introduction/ key message to practices:
We have recently introduced changes to our community and antenatal midwifery services
at King’s College Hospital (Denmark Hill). Pregnancy and childbirth are important stages
in a woman’s life, and we want to ensure they receive the best possible care at King’s.
Main story:
We have reorganised the community midwifery service to provide a more equitable and accessible
service. Improvements include women having a named midwife throughout their pregnancy, easy access
to homebirth and the offer of specialist provision for all women with significant mental health problems.
This will ensure continuity of care and a more positive experience for women. More services are being
offered in more varied sites including GP surgeries, Children Centres and Health Centres. This supports
clear links and improves local families’ knowledge of their local Early Years services for their children.
The changes we’ve introduced, together with staffing the new midwifery led birthing rooms located
alongside the Nightingale Birth Centre at King’s College Hospital, will also help in our efforts to increase
normal birth rates, reduce caesarean sections, and grow our already higher than average home-birth
rate.
How exactly is the new service structured?
From 28th September, the service we provide will consist of 11 community teams, made up of:
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Four standard community teams. Our community teams Horizon, Sunflower, Ivy Green and
Serenity will care for women within their geographical boundaries using their postal address to
determine the location for care.
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Four caseload teams. Our caseload teams Birchtree, The Grove, Juniper and Electric will look after
women who want home births and those with serious mental illness in pregnancy working the
same geographical boundaries as the community teams.
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The Ruskin high risk team will care for women with high risk pregnancies (doubling of provision).
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The Young Parents midwifery practice will look after all women under 19 years old and women of
any age requesting a home birth.
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The Denmark Hill team will look after women who are geographically out of our area but wish to
have antenatal care and deliver their baby at Kings.
Each geographical area that we serve will have one standard community team, and one caseload team.
They will work in partnership to deliver the best care possible for pregnant women. The attached list
details by postcode which areas the community and caseload teams will cover.
Community and
Antenatal Midwifery teams - postcodes.docx
Where will the teams be based?
We have worked with primary care and early year’s colleagues to secure venues that will allow us to
widen access and deliver midwifery care within local communities. The teams will be based in a number
of Children’s Centres, Health Centres and GP practices shown on the map below.
Community and
Antenatal Midwifery Services at King's v1.pdf
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those GP practices we were previously based from for
their accommodation and cooperation over previous years. We hope these changes will benefit
pregnant women by providing more local accessible care within the community. We will of course
continue to ensure our community midwifery teams work as effectively as possible with GPs, health
visitors, dieticians and other healthcare staff regardless of where they are based.
How to refer women to King’s:
To refer a woman to King’s, please complete the attached form and email it to kchtr.antenatalreferral@nhs.net
rf - 021.5 - antenatal
referral form.doc
The information provided on this form will help us identify the correct care pathway for women and
improve their chances of continuity of care right from their very first appointment at the Trust.
Please ensure the form is completed correctly so we can provide women with information about their
antenatal care as quickly as possible.
Further information
If you require further information, please contact Tracey MacCormack or Jill Demilew on
020 3299 3547 or via email -
·
·
Tracey.Maccormack@nhs.net
Jill.Demilew@nhs.net
Image to accompany the story:
Extended text for webpage:
Summary of associated documents
Community and
rf - 021.5 - antenatal
Community and
Antenatal Midwifery Services
referral
at King's
form.doc
v1.pdf Antenatal Midwifery teams - postcodes.docx
Which section of the e-bulletin would you like the information to be in:
1. For action
2. Updates
3. Primary care engagement and education
4. Vacancies
If action required - deadline for response (if applicable):
Contact details:
020 3299 3547
-
Tracey. Maccormack@nhs.net
Jill. Demilew@nhs.net