An NHS worker who has led a project to improve care for women with early pregnancy complications has recognised the support of our 100 Leaders scheme in helping her to make changes.
Amy Hunter is an advanced practitioner in ultrasound at the Trust. She has led an improvement project at the organisation as part of their 100 Leaders programme.
Her group’s change project focused on improving the experience of women in a challenging stage of their pregnancy who may feel anxious coming to their appointment.
Amy said: “Ladies who experience abnormal early pregnancy symptoms in their first trimester, and who have also had previous early pregnancy complications, share waiting areas with heavily pregnant ladies and are scanned in the same rooms.
“The locations of these services does lack sensitivity and compassion and can heighten the anxiety levels of these women.
“They also have to make a journey through the hospital to get to the early pregnancy assessment clinic nurses.
“The aim of our project was to stop the co-location of these services. This will enable all of the scans and diagnosis to take place in one area.”
Amy has wanted to change the process for some time. And she was given the help to do so after enrolling in the Trust’s 100 Leaders programme.
The initiative gives staff the opportunity to make 10 courageous changes over a six month period. Each team will receive support from a mentor in the Trust’s senior management team.
The programme forms part of the Trust’s investment in staff, enabling them to improve the services provided to patients.
Amy’s project joins a host of cohort 1 projects including a staff networking service and an installation of stairs linking a staff breakout area (Rainbow Room) to the canteen.
My 100 Leaders journey: Amy Hunter
My name is Amy Hunter and I’m an advanced practitioner in ultrasound. And I was also given an amazing opportunity to be a pack leader in the first cohort of the 100 Leaders programme.
So our project was improving patients’ experiences access and ultrasound services in early pregnancy.
Ladies who experience abnormal early pregnancy symptoms in the first trimester who have had previous early pregnancy complications share waiting areas with heavily pregnant antenatal ladies.
They get scanned in the same scan rooms as these ladies throughout the day. The co-localization of these services does lack sensitivity and compassion and can significantly heighten an already distressing time for these ladies.
They also then make a journey through the hospital to access follow-up family e-pac (early pregnancy assessment clinic) specialist nurses.
So the aim of our project was to eliminate the co-localisation of these services and by doing that we put an early pregnancy specialist nurse on the ultrasound training course.
It’s a focus course just in the first trimester of obstetric ultrasound and they commence the course in September 2021.
Our e-pac specialist nurse will carry out the triage, the scan, the diagnosis and we obviously do the full review of the patient afterwards and the counselling of the lady.
It is the hope with the support and the passion behind the project that we will get further e-pac specialist nurses on the course so we can roll out the training to the full team and so we can carry the service forward.
It’s never been a short-term project but the 100 Leaders programme got us off the starting blocks with it. And if it wasn’t for that I’m not sure whether we would have ever got off the starting blocks.
I feel like 12 months ago I was a completely different person when I entered this 100 leaders programme. I feel like it’s empowered me to be able to look at where change is needed within the Trust and the departments and give me the confidence to speak up and act on those changes.
She explained: “With the help of the project, we put an early pregnancy specialist nurse on an ultrasound training course. She is now in the process of completing her certification.
“This nurse will carry out the triage, scan, diagnosis, review and counselling of ladies.
“It is the hope – with the support and passion of everyone in the team – that we will get further nurses on the course.
“It’s never been a short term project but 100 leaders got us off the starting blocks. It has empowered me to look at changes and given me confidence to act on these changes. Without the support of this initiative – I would never have felt empowered to make changes to improve care for pregnant women.”
Cohort 2 of the 100 Leaders programme recently launched at Hardwick Hall in April 2022.
