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Background to the maternity and neonatal services independent review

Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB) commissioned an independent review of its maternity and neonatal services in December 2023 in order to maintain public confidence in the care being delivered.

The independent review is being overseen by an Oversight Panel, chaired by an individual who is independent of, and unconnected to, the Health Board. The interim Chair is now Dr Denise Chaffer, an experienced midwife and ex President of the Royal College of Nursing.

The Oversight Panel is an additional tier of governance and its role is to undertake an ongoing assurance process and to provide independent scrutiny to ensure the Review is completed in line with its Terms of Reference. 

The Oversight Panel will also oversee the implementation by the Health Board of any recommendations made by the Review.

The Review comes in three parts:

  1. a review of clinical outcomes
  2. a review of patient and staff experience and
  3. a review of leadership and governance. 

The Review is supported by an engagement lead who will ensure that service user and staff voices are heard throughout the review process. 

Llais, the patient advocate body, is also working in parallel with the review, undertaking its own engagement process with families and service users designed to capture a range of feedback on the service that can then be fed into the review. If you would like to contact Llais, you can do so by emailing maternityexperience@llaiscymru.org

The Independent Review’s Oversight Panel has developed and refined its Terms of Reference, with direct input from families, staff and other experts in the field. 

The review itself is now underway and progress updates will be provided regularly over the coming months including how the review is engaging with families and staff.

The review will be publishing its own website shortly, entirely separate to this, the Health Board’s website. The link will be inserted here when it is ready. 

The published Terms of Reference, the structure of the review, the membership of the Oversight Panel and the clinical review teams can all be found via the navigation panel on the left hand side of this page.

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth a galwadau ffôn yn y Gymraeg neu'r Saesneg. Atebir gohebiaeth Gymraeg yn y Gymraeg, ac ni fydd hyn yn arwain at oedi. Mae’r dudalen hon ar gael yn Gymraeg drwy bwyso’r botwm ar y dde ar frig y dudalen.

We welcome correspondence and telephone calls in Welsh or English. Welsh language correspondence will be replied to in Welsh, and this will not lead to a delay. This page is available in Welsh by clicking ‘Cymraeg’ at the top right of this page.