Lothian Maternity Voices Partnership

The Terms of Reference is an official document which describes the role of the Maternity Voices Partnership and how it sits within NHS Lothian Maternity Services.

1.      Introduction

1.1     There is a recommendation that every health board in Scotland has a Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) where providers and users of maternity services develop and improve services in partnership.

1.2      An MVP is an independent multi-disciplinary advisory and action forum with service   users at the centre.

1.3     It uses both a formal committee structure, with written agendas and formal minutes of discussions and decisions and incorporates the principles and practice of participatory co-design and co-production through short-life working groups in order to ensure that the five core principles of MVPs are at the centre of the development and continuous improvement of maternity services.

2.      Core Principles

2.1     An MVP functions as a forum for maternity service users, service user advocates, service providers and other strategic partners. An MVP is a tool that enables the co-production of solutions in response to local issues. MVPs operate on the following five core principles:

• Work creatively, respectfully and collaboratively to co-produce solutions together.
• Work together as equals, promoting and valuing participation. Listen to and seek out the voices of women, families and carers using maternity services. Enable everyone to have a voice by providing a range of ways to engage with the MVP.
• Identify where improvement is needed from service users’ experience and insight.
• Understand how staff working conditions and service pressures impact on the outcomes for women, families and carers. Listen to and seek out the views of maternity and neonatal services staff.
• Work in partnership with service provider to support continuous quality improvement with a particular focus on closing inequality gaps.

3.      Aims and Objectives

3.1      The MVP facilitates communication and collaboration between local women and families and the local Maternity and Neonatal Services, including all acute and        community services.

3.2      NHS Lothian MVP will enable NHS Lothian Maternity and Neonatal Services to hear and incorporate the views and priorities of local service users when considering:

• Strategy for maternity and neonatal services.
• Enable the consideration of service users’ views with regards to Clinical Governance within maternity and neonatal services.
• Equity of service delivery across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
• Communication between the services and the public.

3.3      The MVP members will work in partnership to co-produce solutions in response to the local issues identified through feedback from service users and local data.

4.      Shared Values

4.1      All members are committed to working in partnership to develop services built around women and their families. Woman-centred care offers women information, choice, and care based on best available evidence, always respecting their choices and human rights.

4.2      The MVP is committed to promoting diversity and equal opportunities and upholds women’s human rights in pregnancy and childbirth.

4.3      The MVP is multidisciplinary – the members bring with them different beliefs, values and experience which should be valued and respected. Each member should have an equal opportunity to contribute to the MVP discussions and decision-making process.

5.      Membership

          Service Users

• Service Users
• Service User Representatives (nominated by perinatal support organisations and community groups)

Lothian NHS Board

• Planning lead for Maternity Services
• Clinical Governance
• Public Health
• Health Promotion

Maternity Services Leadership Team

• Director of Midwifery
• Associate Director of Midwifery
• Service Manager
• Clinical Director(s)
• Consultant – Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Neonatology, Anaesthetics
• Midwifery representatives – Community/Hospital
• Infant Nutrition
• Health Visitors
• AHP Representative
• Family Nurse Partnership

Colleges and Universities

Perinatal Research Teams

6.      Member Remit and Duties

6.1      Wherever possible, each member should have a named deputy who can attend in their absence.

6.2      At all times, members are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with NHS Lothian’s values. These can be found here: Our Values – NHS Lothian | Our Organisation

6.3.     Members of the committee should liaise with the groups or professions they represent.      This will include regular reporting on the activities of the MVP to their group /           colleagues and also give relevant feedback to the MVP.

6.4      Out-of-pocket expenses will be payable to service user members of the committee.

6.5      All new members should receive background and briefing information and meet the   Chair of the MVP, if they wish to, before their first meeting. Where possible there           should be a systematic hand-over between members representing the same group or         profession.

6.6      The administrative support to the committee will relay information to members of the committee.

6.7      Members will normally be appointed for 4 years and will be eligible for reappointment.       Changes in membership should be staggered to allow for continuity.

7.      Chair

7.1     The Chair and Vice Chair of the committee will be elected by the membership for a    renewable period of 2 years. The Chair should normally be a lay member. If there is no lay member willing to take on the role, the Health Board, in consultation with the       committee, will consider who would have an independent perspective and be able to take on the role. Where the Chair is not a service user member, a lay member should be encouraged to take the role of Vice Chair.

•     In the rare absence of the Chair and Vice Chair, members shall elect one person to                 take the Chair for the duration of the meeting.

8.      Committee Proceedings

•     All members will have voting rights.

•     The Chair may invite individuals on an ad-hoc basis to a meeting for a particular item.

8.3     The MVP may set up multidisciplinary subgroups that include user members on an ad-hoc basis to work on specific topics and report back to the MVP. These subgroups may co-opt members as appropriate.

8.4      Meetings will be held no less than 4 times a year.

8.5      A quorum shall be one third of the full core MVP membership, excluding deputies.

8.6      Proposed amendments to the terms of reference shall be circulated to all members in   writing at least one month before the meeting at which such amendments are to be considered.

8.7      Lothian NHS Board will provide administrative support to the committee.

8.8      Agenda and papers will be circulated at least 5 working days before each meeting. Any member may ask for items to be included on the agenda.

8.9      The minutes of meetings will be considered public documents and circulated within   three weeks to members, relevant bodies and be made available to others on request.

8.10  Where a member is unable to attend a meeting, they will inform the committee secretary before the meeting whether their deputy will be attending the meeting. The deputy will have full voting rights.

9.      Annual Programme

9.1      Each year the MVP will develop an action plan that outlines priorities and areas for    action.

9.2      The MVP will be consulted by the NHS Board on:

• Proposals impacting upon the scale and scope of services provided by maternity and neonatal services.
• Service specifications for the establishment of new services maternity and neonatal services.
• Information requirements of the local population on maternity and neonatal services.

9.3      The MVP will receive reports from NHS Lothian and advise on:

• The development plans relevant to maternity and neonatal services.
• Themes arising from established sources of patient feedback related to maternity and neonatal services, and actions arising therefrom.

10.    MVP Annual Report

10.1    The MVP will produce an annual report that includes:

• The work of the MVP over the past year.
• Work plan for the coming year.
• Recommendations to Lothian NHS Board.

          It may also include a synopsis of local statistics and services and act as an overview   prospectus for the service providers.

10.2    The annual report will be discussed at the Lothian NHS Women’s Services Clinical Management Team and will be circulated to appropriate bodies and all relevant groups in the community (both statutory and non-statutory) with an interest in maternity and neonatal services.

10.3    It will be discussed by the Chair and Vice-chair at a meeting with the Service Director for Women’s and Children’s services.

These Terms of Reference were last reviewed in October 2024

The opinions and real experiences of our parent members are essential to help shape and improve our local maternity and neonatal services. As a member of the Maternity Voices Partnership you can really get involved. Your views are invaluable to give maternity professionals a service user’s perspective.

No prior experience is required other than your experience of the maternity and/or neonatal services in NHS Lothian.

The MVP is keen to welcome new members who will attend our regular meetings and take an active part in our working groups which focus on specific improvement areas. 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, please contact us.

We would like to hear from all parents across our service user community. EVERYONE’S VOICE MATTERS.

Please get in touch – Get In Touch – Maternity Services (nhslothian.scot)

NHS Lothian is keen to hear your views on your recent maternity services experience. Let your voice be heard.

You can give direct feedback about your maternity care by filling up the NHS Lothian Maternity Care Experience survey. You can do a short survey (5 min) or a longer survey  (15-20 min).

If you want to give a compliment, raise concerns or make a complaint about your maternity care, please see Giving Feedback on My Care.

Are you a dad, partner or co-parent? We value your feedback too. Please share your thoughts and suggestions with the Patient Experience Team or on CareOpinion.

Each personal story is unique but the Maternity Voice Partnership will identify areas of concern and common themes. This helps to identify where the issues are and enables us to take action.

Some big projects ( we helped design the Lothian Birth Centre when it was built, we worked in partnership with NHS Lothian to create the maternity services website) and some smaller ones (we helped write a new leaflet on induction of labour; we designed the BRAIN sticker to support decision-making; we met with the hospital catering services to give new mums more meals options).

• 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.
• 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 options for birth after a Caesarean section,
• Continue to help improve communication from NHS Lothian 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.

Sadly, we cannot deal with personal queries from individuals about their clinical care and we are not qualified to deal with complaints.

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 you should contact your hospital for help and advice (Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health: 0131 536 1000^(*) or  St John’s hospital: 01506 523 000^(*)).

If you wish to make a formal complaint about your care, please go to this section of NHS Lothian website: Tell Us About Your Experience (Compliments, Concerns & Complaints) – Your Rights & Privacy (nhslothian.scot)