The Maternity staffing level tool is part of a suite of tools. These are available to help NHS Scotland services plan the number of staff they need.
The tool
This tool is used in both hospital and community maternity services across Scotland. It explores the time and complexity of midwifery care.
The Maternity tool provides information and a rWTE (recommended whole time equivalent) for staffing based on the data entered.
The tool covers the following areas of care:
- antenatal ward
- postnatal ward
- labour suite
- clinics
- triage
- community
The work is classified into areas of risk. These are:
- vulnerability
- social
- obstetric and medical
- anaesthetic
That risk determines level of care and support required. The predefined levels of care range from routine care to 1:1 care dependent. The scores increase as the demand on midwifery time increases.
How to use this tool
The current national recommendation is to run the tools for a two-week period, at least once per year.
Use this tool alongside the Professional judgement (PJ) tool.
The outputs from these tools can be used as part of the Common Staffing Method, to inform safe and effective staffing for your service.
The following video guides and documents provide information on completing this tool.
They provide detailed information from how to log in to how to gather and submit data.
Resources to support you
| Resource | Source | What it is and what it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Resource | Source Healthcare Improvement Scotland | What it is and what it is for Step by step guide to background of the Maternity tool and data collection |
| Resource | Source Healthcare Improvement Scotland | What it is and what it is for Step by step guide to uploading data onto SSTS platform |
| Resource Maternity tool user guide and FAQs (PDF 3.4MB) | Source Healthcare Improvement Scotland | What it is and what it is for User guide on using the Maternity staffing level tool |
| Resource Maternity tool – data capture template (PDF 434KB) | Source Healthcare Improvement Scotland | What it is and what it is for Template to record data |
| Resource | Source Healthcare Improvement Scotland | What it is and what it is for Template to record data for any triage calls |
| Resource Maternity tool – data capture template – travel (PDF, 532K) | Source Healthcare Improvement Scotland | What it is and what it is for Template to record data for travel |
| Resource | Source TURAS | What it is and what it is for A variety of learning resources to support understanding workload and workforce planning and the application of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019. |
| Resource | Source Healthcare Improvement Scotland | What it is and what it is for Printable checklist to aid tool run preparation and delivery |
| Resource | Source NHS Lanarkshire | What it is and what it is for Example of reporting template which looks at each component of the CSM |