ISQUA17-1294LISTENING TO WOMEN'S VOICES IN MATERNITY CARE

Abstract

Objectives: The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is an independent body established to drive safe and highquality care for people using health and social care services in Ireland. Following recent investigations and reviews, it was highlighted that women had faced serious failings in their maternity care and a number of serious service deficits were identified. Confidence in Irish maternity services was undermined and it was clear there was a need for marked improvements. Methods: HIQA decided to engage directly with women and their partners who had recently used the maternity services, ensuring the views of those with both good and bad experiences were heard. A Standards Advisory Group was convened with key stakeholders including women and patient advocates. 12 focus groups were conducted with service users and front-line staff across the country. HIQA also published the draft standards for an eight-week public consultation and posters advertising the consultation were displayed in the public areas of nineteen maternity units nationwide, to encourage participation. A key challenge during this initiative was ensuring that individuals from a range of backgrounds could be a part of shaping the future of Irish maternity care. This challenge was overcome by actively seeking opportunities to involve service users where possible. HIQA produced material in an accessible format, creating a plain-English guide to accompany the published standards. It was also made possible to submit feedback on the standards through an online survey tool, Polldaddy; which proved a success as this new platform accounted for 74% of submissions received. Results: Data recorded from the focus groups and the advisory group meetings was assessed and used to shape the draft standards. Feedback gathered from the public consultation was then thematically analyzed using NVivo and reviewed for inclusion in the final standards. Overall, the findings suggest that women and their partners welcomed the opportunity to partner with HIQA in developing these standards and were hopeful that the safety and quality of maternity services would improve, as the standards are aligned with the 2016 National Maternity Strategy (2). Together, these codesigned national standards and the maternity strategy provide a framework of best practice, enabling services to provide consistently safe, high-quality maternity care and in turn work towards restoring public confidence in the service. Conclusion: of the key lessons learned during this initiative, was the importance of taking the time to explore the views and experiences of women, their families and support networks to help improve maternity services; a documented feature of maternity care system change in the United States (1). Listening to the voice of women and their partners and co-designing the standards based on their experiences greatly enhanced the standards and as a result they are more credible and hopefully will be easier to implement as they are also now very practical.