Response from One to One on their Facebook Page, October 27th (www.facebook.com/OnetoOneMidwives)
On behalf of One to One I would like to thank those of you that have posted supportive messages on this page in response to the article in todays Manchester Evening News.
In order to reassure those of you that may be receiving care from One to One I would like to correct a number of inaccuracies in the article.
Both of the babies died of natural causes, one baby died at a few days old and one baby died at a few weeks. Both of the babies were born in hospital and there were no concerns raised about the care the mothers or babies had received from One to One. Following on from the sad events both families continued to receive care and support from their One to One midwives.
One to One is an NHS commissioned provider of maternity services and as such is regulated in the same way as all other NHS maternity providers. One to One are inspected and monitored by the Care Quality Commission (CGC) and insured by the NHSLA - just as all maternity providers are. We also undergo monthly performance management by those Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) that recognize that we provide a service that women want and need, with outcomes that are some of the best in the country, and so have agreed to commission our service and provide women with choice about how they receive their maternity care.
Since starting to provide care for women in the Greater Manchester area One to One have made repeated attempts to meet the Greater Manchester CCGs and the Manchester area team of NHS England to discuss our service and to facilitate women’s choice in provider and place of birth with no response. Due to One to One raising concerns with Monitor regarding the none engagement of the CCGs leading to reduced choice in their area, the Greater Manchester CCGs decided to perform a review of our services which took place in June the findings of which are yet to be published however we have seen a draft of the report which states:
“There were no immediate clinical concerns that the review panel considered needing to action on the day of the inspection”
The review performed by the Greater Manchester CCGs was not an investigation into the deaths of these babies but a quality review on the service that we provide.
We believe that this article is a direct result of One to One challenging the “status quo” in relation to maternity services, and there are those who feel uncomfortable with that challenge. As an organization we will continue to put women at the center of all we do and to provide a service that offers women a level of continuity that most other maternity providers are unable to provide together with true choice around place of birth. We pride ourselves on promoting an open and transparent culture and have had that “openness and transparency” commended by external regulators.
We will be making a formal complaint in response to the gross inaccuracies that have been published and will continue in our efforts to engage with the local Clinical Commissioning Groups.
Joanne Parkington
Chief Executive Officer
One to One (North West) Limited
Hope this helps anyone who is trying to work out what the real story is.