What is the positive change that has emerged through new collaborations or partnerships during Covid-19 that your project is going to embed?

During Covid-19 PRactical Obstetric Multi-Professional Training (PROMPT) Maternity Foundation has collaborated with Royal  Colleges and collated latest guidance from NHS England, NHS Resolution and others, to provide online newsletters and videos on safe delivery of care in line with latest guidance on COVID-19, as soon as this comes out, switching our resources from providing in-person training.  This collaboration has allowed us to be very responsive and built on our established track record in developing training programmes for safer maternity services. Our ‘Train the Trainer’ resources enable maternity units to run team training for obstetric emergencies.   Through our extensive network of maternity units, we gather information on what’s needed and rapidly respond to feedback on the resources produced. We want to build on these partnerships to develop interactive, virtual training modules, working in collaboration with maternity units to produce useful, easily accessible online training to meet their needs and context.

What does your project aim to achieve?

The project aims to collaboratively develop interactive, virtual patient safety training modules on dealing with obstetric emergencies, including new risks from COVID-19, reducing harm to mothers and babies.   Content is derived from best evidence and latest guidance, together with our tried and tested existing training resources.  Interactive, online sessions will be accessible to maternity services across the NHS, with modules available ‘on demand’, unlike in-person training sessions which are run a few times per year centrally.  NHS services have responded to the pandemic with an unprecedented shift to virtual consultations, virtual meetings and virtual training.  PMF is seizing the initiative of the increased familiarity with on-line conferencing platforms allowing collaborators to ‘meet’ through online breakout rooms facilitating interactive discussion, using tools like Jam Boards to co-create content.  Innovative videos and animations make it possible for the online experience to simulate the ‘real life’ feeling of responding to an emergency.

How will the project be delivered?

PROMPT will collaborate with maternity units to transform in-person ‘Train the Trainer’ sessions to interactive, responsive, virtual training.  The collaboration will work with our existing network of maternity safety trainers, using tools like Googledocs and Jam Boards to share insights on how to train in virtual reality for real life emergencies.  Training modules will respond to maternity units’ feedback from test sessions, such as the need for debriefing after online sessions.  The partnerships developed with the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Royal College of Midwives to produce COVID-19 updates will enable the project to combine national intelligence with on-the-ground experience. New modules will be rapidly developed to respond to emerging areas of patient safety. Each module will request feedback on the content, how it is used and seek suggestions for further resources. The training modules will be evaluated through surveys to lead trainers in each maternity unit.

How is your project going to share learning?

We will develop online patient safety training resources, available for maternity services across the UK and Ireland.  We will share as we learn how to transform existing resources for in-person training into  interactive virtual training modules: How to make best use of available technology and on-line platforms, in a way which is readily accessible to staff in the NHS.  We are already learning and sharing how to use tools like Googeldocs and Jam Boards to share ideas, and Zoom break-out rooms to get people talking. We will collate what we learn about how to effectively manage a very broad professional network  to contribute to training development and testing, through ongoing consultation. We will be testing how best to get a high response rate, collate the information and manage multiple rounds of feedback, in order to refine and improve materials, also to gather ideas on new training, responding to emerging issues.