Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has announced a new personalised care plan for maternity patients in the Cornwall area and on the isles of Scilly.
The new care plan was launched in partnership with Kernow Maternity Voices Partnership (KMVP) and was officially announced on the 28th of June and is part of the personalised and choice agenda of the NHS Long Term Plan.
As part of the new plan, it uses the acronym BRAIN – ‘Benefits’, ‘Risks’, ‘Alternatives’, ‘Intuition’ and ‘do Nothing’ to better inform patients and give them greater control over their care. Each section is intended to raise different questions around what the best care will be for any individual.
Nicki Burnett, KMVP Chair, said: “It was clear that one of the main things that impacted the experiences of women, pregnant people and their families was how much they felt involved in the decisions about their care and whether they were supported to understand their options and their subsequent decisions respected. The care plan itself is based on a nationally acclaimed publication developed in Manchester and has been adapted by a group of service users and KMVP volunteers to ensure it accurately reflected what the community wants. Service users will be central to the ongoing evaluation of the care plan.”
Lead Transformation Midwife Zoe Nelson said: “Personalised care is not only an evidenced-based approach that improves patient safety, it also ensures a process is followed in shared decision making and informed choice and consent.”
“The impact of a personalised care plan on patient experience should not be underestimated. Clinicians are being asked to challenge the traditional way they may have broached conversations and supported individualised plans in the past, even if they fall outside of our guidelines we work towards.”
