Maternity unit redesign to improve privacy

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Patients can get support around the clock

A maternity ward for patients with urgent medical concerns will be redesigned to offer more privacy.

The maternity triage unit at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital was established in 2022, but will now become a self-contained area.

The unit supports women with reduced foetal movements, bleeding or abdominal pain during pregnancy or following birth.

Nicola Foster, head of midwifery at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, said the unit would provide "a much better experience for anyone needing the service".

The improvements would ensure midwives and maternity support workers could "concentrate on the triage role" without being "summoned or distracted" by work in other areas of the maternity department, Foster added.

Work will include installing new doors to the triage area on the first floor of the family services building.

The self-contained unit will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Triage services were introduced following a national review led by senior midwife Donna Ockenden in 2022.

In 2023, spaces were created on Jasmine Ward and Ward 26 at the hospital.

The trust said the redesign followed recommendations made by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

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