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A-EQUIP is a supportive framework for midwives in England, intended to replace the former system of statutory supervision. Carmel McCalmont shares how the programme works in practice.
HOW TO.
As everyone knows, statutory supervision of midwifery ceased on 31 March 2017. It has been replaced by the A-EQUIP model - Advocating for Education and Quality Improvement - which is led by professional midwifery advocates (PMAs). To develop the new system, seven pilot sites were selected to test its process and principles and to create a group of PMAs across the country. The pilot sites developed different models of A-EQUIP; in Coventry and Warwickshire, where I worked, we explored a model that is delivered across a local maternity system (LMS).
Unusually, our pilot brought together staff from four different organisations with the aim of developing a cross-county model: George Eliot Hospital, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust and Coventry University.
It was tested with Band 5 midwives who had no previous experience of statutory supervision, with the aim that PMAs would support staff outside their employing trust. To be chosen as a pilot site was timely as LMSs were under development and relationships across the system had developed well. This assisted collaborative working, not only as an A-EQUIP pilot, but also as an LMS.
Lessons learned on implementing A-EQUIP
One of the first lessons was in the importance of giving midwives the time for support and restorative clinical supervision. To ensure this, decision-makers need to be on board...