Maternity teams invited to support new triage system

UCLPartners is inviting maternity teams from across the region to participate in a new programme to support the implementation of the Birmingham Symptom Specific Obstetric Triage System (BSOTS).

BSOTS was co-produced in 2013 by midwives and obstetricians in Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, and researchers from the University of Birmingham.  Prior to implementation, the hospital reviewed women in order of attendance rather than clinical presentation, meaning that women with high clinical urgency were not prioritised.

Implementing BSOTS enabled an initial standardised assessment of each woman, identifying her presenting condition, key clinical symptoms and physiological indicators.  Symptom-specific prioritisation algorithms then used this information to define the level of clinical urgency using a four-category scale; green (non-urgent), yellow (requires further assessment), orange (priority) and red (emergency).

Now, BSOTS has received support from the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Royal College of Midwives for national implementation.  The National Maternity and Neonatal Collaboration (MatNeo) programme have linked BSOTS to their deterioration primary driver, working to increase early identification of those women at risk.

As part of our work to support the national NHS Improvement MatNeo programme, we are offering maternity teams in our region support to implement BSOTS. We are keen to ensure the two programmes are sensitive to the demands placed on staff, who are likely to be involved in both programmes, as well as other initiatives.

How will the programme work?

BSOTS will be implemented in waves with 3 trusts attending the one-day training at a time. There will be a quarterly community of practice session to help learn from successes and troubleshoot across the region.

Teams participating within the programme will be provided with additional support including:

• Delivery of 1-day train the trainer BSOTS session, starting in October 2019
• Access to a regional obstetric lead for clinical guidance
• Regular support through individual contact, webinars and knowledge exchange through a community of practice
• Access to improvement advisors for quality improvement support and troubleshooting
• Human factors training
• Support with the MatNeo programme through local learning system and bespoke support
• Culture surveys pre and post implementation, to assess staff morale and burnout

Find out more

If you would like further information on BSOTS, please contact Nikki Glover nikki.glover@uclpartners.com or Chiya Jones chiya.jones@uclpartners.com  by 2 September