From 8am on Monday 9th April 2018, a designated telephone advice and triage line will be available for pregnant women to access advice and support 24 hours day, 7 days a week from a midwife. The line is available for women during pregnancy, labour and following the birth of their baby for women under the care of Royal Surrey County Hospital, Ashford and St Peter¡¦s Hospitals and Epsom and St Helier Hospitals.
One telephone number will connect to Surrey Heartlands Pregnancy Advice Line – 0300 123 5473.
The Advice Line will:
- Triage calls, assess any risks and signpost women to the most appropriate place for their care, providing easier access for all women to the right maternity care
- Give women 24 hour access, 7 days a week to clinical advice from qualified midwives
- Enhance links with emergency services when required for pregnancy-related health issues
- Connect women with midwives who have up-to-date information on the capacity of each maternity unit, enabling the midwives to direct pregnant women to the best place for their care or birth at any time
- Enable health professionals to get fast access to a midwife for advice or triage.
This local Pregnancy Advice Line is part of the national NHS Better Births plan to transform maternity services for pregnant women and families with new born babies, offering personalised care. Surrey Heartlands is one of the first areas in the country to introduce this initiative which covers all aspects of the maternity pathway giving pregnant women, and the families of new born babies, a better package of care, more choice and easier access to midwives and other health professionals.
Midwives will be based in a bespoke call-centre hub at South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) Head Office in Crawley working in partnership with the SECAmb team. Vicky Williams, Head of Commissioning Acute Paediatrics and Maternity for Surrey Heartlands CCGs, said: “The new Advice Line is a major step forward in achieving our ‘Better Births’ vision to provide sustainable, high quality health care for women and children; responsive and accessible to local need.”
Surrey Heartlands is one of seven early adopter sites for the Maternity Transformation Programme across England.
