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Implementing A Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland
Transport in Acute Maternity Services
1. Ambulance transport in Scotland is currently provided by eight Operational Control Centres serving the relevant NHS Board Areas, although the number will reduce to three Regional Centres over the next two years. There is also a national Air Ambulance desk, located in Aberdeen.
2. Ambulances can be accessed in three main ways: the 999 emergency system, direct telephone numbers used by GPs and hospital-based clinicians, and by pre-book forms sent by mail or fax to the appropriate control centre.
3. Although maternity-related calls account for only a small amount of total ambulance service workload, any change to the organisation and delivery of maternity services will impact on ambulance provision and paramedical support. The implications of providing different levels of maternity care on a regional basis must be fully explored with the ambulance service, and staff should be equipped with the necessary confidence, education, skills and competencies to participate effectively to services for pregnant women and their babies.
Principles |
6.1 Paramedic staff must be trained and skilled to provide effective emergency care to women before, during and after childbirth. Training should include early recognition, and management, of obstetric and neonatal emergencies. 6.2 Paramedic staff should have access to multi-professional maternity care training. 6.3 Training should be practical in focus, and should include 'hands-on' experience under the supervision of an experienced clinician in the hospital setting, such as a midwife or obstetrician. 6.4 Paramedical staff should receive ongoing training and refresher courses to maintain and enhance skills and competencies. Whenever possible, these activities should be multi-professional. |
Neonatal transport
4. Approximately 1,000 babies are transferred across hospitals in Scotland each year. A report of a working group on neonatal transfer in 2002 concluded that current neonatal transport services were not sustainable. The Scottish Executive Health Department has accepted the conclusions in the report and has instructed Regional Services Planning Groups to implement the recommendations and, in particular, that by April 2003:
a 24-hour neonatal transport system should be set up in three regions of Scotland - North, South-East and West
newborn babies should only have to undergo one episode of transport
adequate staffing and equipment levels should be secured.
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