What is NHS Forth Valley MVP

The Forth Valley MVP monitors what maternity services are being provided to expectant and new parents and recommends changes and improvement. It acts as a voice for the people who use these services. In doing so we build relationship and initiate collaborations between service users and various teams within the maternity service.

Forth Valley Maternity Voices Partnership is a group of volunteers who represent the voice of women and families from all communities and cultures to inform improvements in local maternity and neonatal care.

Our members are:

• Local people who have recently had a baby or are currently expecting a baby.
• Healthcare professionals, including midwives, health visitors, obstetricians and neonatal staff who work in our maternity units in Forth Valley and provide care in the community.
• Representatives from voluntary groups who support pregnant women and new parents.

Our volunteers are the voice of local parents and are working to make improvements to local maternity and Neonatal services.

Why should I get involved?

The opinions and real experiences of our parent members are essential to help shape and improve our local maternity service.

As a member of Maternity Voices you can really get involved. Your views are invaluable to give maternity professionals a service user’s perspective.

In addition, a very important part of our work is that we find out what parents from all walks of life need to make their experience of our maternity services a good one.

How you can get involved

Each of our volunteers brings their own wealth of experience to Forth Valley Maternity Voices. We have “virtual” meetings every 2 months on MS Teams, We aim to hold a face to face session once a year to celebrate what has been achieved by the group and discuss plans for the future.

• The committee is keen to welcome new members who will attend our meetings which will focus on specific improvement areas based on the feedback we receive.
• If you can spare some time on a regular basis no prior experience is required other than your experience of our maternity and/or neonatal service in Forth Valley.
• Become a team member. If you can offer your contribution to the work of the group, either through commenting on draft proposals/offering feedback and ideas for focus or simply attending and contributing to the discussions we need you.

If you would like to get involved please contact:  fv.mvp@nhs.scot

How do I share my views?

We value your feedback and use it to identify common themes and inform future changes and improvements. Our staff also find feedback useful as it let’s them know when they are getting it right and when they could do better.

You can provide feedback in a number of ways:

In Writing

Complete a comment card and give it to a member of staff or post it in a comment box.

Write to our Patient Relations Service at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Stirling Road, Larbert FK5 4WR. You may also be asked to take part in a one of regular inpatient surveys.

Online

Visit Care Opinion (formerly Patient Opinion) – an independent website where you can share your experiences of local healthcare and health services. We promise to view and respond to all comments posted by local patients.

You can also provide general comments direct to us via email using our feedback form, Twitter or Facebook.

By Phone

You can speak directly to a member of staff in a ward or clinic or contact our Patient Relations Department on 01324 566660.

What are we doing now?

• Supporting decision-making: an MVP working group continues to look at how best to support women when they are making decisions about their care by ensuring they get the right information from NHS staff at the right time.
• Giving everybody a voice: an MVP working group is currently running a number of initiatives to ensure families of all backgrounds are represented and can participate in improvement projects.
• Induction of labour: we are developing information focused on the options available at each stage of an induction, including the decision to have an induction or not, and supporting service changes to improve the process.
• New information leaflet on choices for place of birth inclusive of Homebirth.

Our plans for the future include

• Continue to give parents more options to have their say by developing new ways to feedback, e.g. through online questionnaires/surveys and local community events.
• Start a working group on birth choices, in particular Vaginal Birth After a Caesarean section (VBAC).
• Continue to help improve communication from NHS Forth Valley and find better ways of sharing information, including having a social media presence.
• Continue to listen to your views to help improve and develop local services.

If you’d like to know more about what we are doing and what goes on at our meetings, please read the minutes of our meetings. They are written for you.

What does the MVP not do?

Sadly, we cannot deal with personal queries from individuals about their clinical care.

If you have personal questions about your maternity care, please speak first to your midwife, health visitor or GP. If you would like to discuss your experience, in confidence, with someone not directly involved in your care please email fv.mvp@nhs.scot and we can help signpost you to the relevant person.

If you wish to make a formal complaint about your care, please go to this section of NHS Forth Valley website: NHS Forth Valley – Compliments & Complaints

When do we meet?

At the Maternity Voices Partnership meetings, which are held every 2 months, parents and representatives of parents support groups meet with midwives and other medical staff, as well as staff who manage the service.

The MVP members work in partnership to improve maternity services.

Topics range from care during pregnancy, antenatal scans, parenthood classes, to care in labour, infant feeding choices and the care of mother and baby once they are back home. We review what information is available to help mothers and their partners decide what is best for themselves and their baby.

The committee makes recommendations to the clinical management staff and to the Health Board and follows up any action that has been agreed.