Safer and more efficient care for mums and mums to be

A shared maternity electronic patient record system went live in Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust on 7 July 2021. 

The record, centred around the mother, will enable all trusts involved within the West Yorkshire and Harrogate local maternity system to share specific documents relating to care during a woman's maternity journey.

Currently, information needed for pregnancy care may be stored in several different maternity systems - and potentially in none-maternity systems too. This may be because maternity patients are under one trust but need, or choose, to visit different healthcare settings.

Now, thanks to this new initiative, if a woman booked at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust goes to a neighbouring trust for care, staff will be able to check the portal for relevant details. Likewise, if the trust is registering someone booked elsewhere on the system, staff will be able to search for information regarding the maternity pathway.

Emma Burbidge, Digital Midwife, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“We are delighted to go live with this great new initiative. Sharing data in this way is essential if we are to provide the very best care we can across the maternity pathway. It also enables our healthcare services to work more efficiently.”

Systems integrator Synanetics and systems supplier K2 Medical Systems will use Yorkshire & Humber Care Record (YHCR) technology to provide five documents through the portal. Initially this will include a booking in summary followed by summaries on pregnancy conditions, labour, birth and discharge.

Emma added:

“Sharing maternity data means safer and more efficient care for mums and mums to be. Improved connectivity and integration will provide clinical and care staff, directly involved in the mother’s care, access to the most up to date information. It means we’ll be able to view real time maternity information across care providers and between different IT systems safely and securely. Time consuming telephone calls to understand different systems and chase up information will become a thing of the past too.” 

Immediate access to health care information all in one place will mean fewer delays in treatment and provides extra support to clinicians if a woman comes to the trust unexpectedly. This might include, for example, identifying people who may need extra support because of safeguarding or other concerns.

Lee Rickles, Programme Director for Yorkshire & Humber Care Record said:

“Yorkshire & Humber Care Record is proud to support the sharing of information to improve care across the maternity pathway in West Yorkshire.”

The project will go live in stages across West Yorkshire and Harrogate with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, being the first. Other trusts including Airedale, Mid-Yorkshire and Leeds are scheduled to go live later this year. Developing a common infrastructure and exchanging maternity data in this way is the first step in progressing a more comprehensive Maternity Shared Care Record.

Dr Liz Mear, Senior Responsible Officer for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership’s Digital Programme said:

“It’s great to see the rollout of this shared care record. We want the best care and support for all our residents and the West Yorkshire and Harrogate local maternity system programme wraps support around women and children at a key stage in life.”

All data shared through the YHCR is fully compliant with General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act.  Health and care records are strictly confidential and can only be seen by clinical and care staff directly involved in the patient’s care.

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