NEW UPDATE - The Care Quality Comission have produced a Quick Guide to raising a concern about your work. You can access and download the document by clicking here
Midwives and Maternity Support Workers (MSW) ‘have a contractual right and a duty to raise genuine concerns’ (Section 21 NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook).
Midwives also have a professional duty under The code: standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives (NMC, 2008).
The NMC have recently published guidance entitled Raising and escalating concerns (NMC 2010). This publication is accompanied by a Toolkit.
The Code (NMC 2008) requires midwives to ‘report concerns in writing if problems in the environment of care are putting people at risk’ (Section 33).
The RCM have developed a Notice of unsafe Conditions of Practice Form to assist midwives in putting their concerns in writing. Alternatively if you are a Head of Midwifery or Supervisors of Midwives and have received a completed Notice of Unsafe Conditions of Practice form - advice can be downloaded here.
Advice on raising a concern can also be sought from your RCM Steward, Regional/National Officer or Public Concern at Work (PCaW)
Public Concern at Work is an independent charity that provides free confidential advice to workers who witness wrongdoing or malpractice in the workplace. Established in 1993 it has since advised over 19,000 clients across all sectors. The health and care sectors, account for a third of the calls received. They are a legal advice centre so all discussions are in complete confidence and come under the auspices of legal professional privilege.
