Pregnant women should get personal budget for NHS services, review urges

Soon-to-be mothers should be given a budget of around £3,000 which could be spent on NHS services to ensure they get the care they desire, the authors said.

Under the proposed scheme, women would be told about all local providers of NHS care and services. They would then be able to make decisions about how and where they receive care. For instance, women may chose a provider who ensures continuity of care from the same midwife throughout pregnancy, birth and postnatal care, the authors said.

The authors of the National Maternity Review likened the scheme to personal health budgets where people with long-term conditions and disabilities are given a say over how NHS money is spent on them.

However, some have criticised the personal health budgets scheme for being open to abuse, with reports of people using their budgets to buy holidays or computer consoles. But the review’s authors said that only accredited providers would be eligible under this scheme.

Officials say the proposed move aims to give women more choice over how and where they have their babies - a key decision considering half of maternity services in England are deemed “inadequate” or “require improvement” in terms of their safety.

The review highlights some stark concerns over the safety of maternity services, even though the last decade has seen drastic improvements. Presently, hospitals are not always putting their hands up and admitting when something has gone wrong, the authors said.

“It is clear that under-reporting of safety incidents is widespread”, they said. “Safety is inconsistent across maternity services, and there is scope for significant improvement in many.”

They added: “The quality of maternity services has been improving but not all are provided to a consistent, high level of quality.

“The safety of maternity services must be improved. The number of unsatisfactory safety assessments and frequency of audit findings of poor care indicate a clear need for improvement.”