Hospital Trust signs maternity ‘Caring for You Charter’

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital in Telford has signed the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) ‘Caring for You Charter’, committing to providing a healthy safe working environment for colleagues within Maternity Services.

The charter, which was launched in 2016, aims to improve services for women and babies by improving the wellbeing of midwives, maternity support workers and student midwives.

By signing the charter, SaTH is committing to a positive and inclusive culture where staff feel valued, respected and invested in, as well as committing to providing a safe and healthy working environment, taking a zero-tolerance stance on abuse.

Signed by Annemarie Lawrence, Director of Midwifery, and Sarah Ellement, the RCM Health and Safety representative, the Caring for You Charter recognises that healthy and well-rested maternity staff are at the heart of providing safe, high-quality care for women and their families.

Annemarie said: “Looking after the health and wellbeing of our colleagues in Maternity Services enables us to provide the best possible care to women and families.

“By signing this charter, we are strengthening our commitment to make the Trust an excellent place to work and a safe and compassionate environment in which to give birth.”

Rebeccah Davies, President of the RCM, who witnessed the signing of the charter, said: “The Royal College of Midwives ‘Caring for You’ programme aims to improve RCM members’ health, safety and wellbeing at work, so they are able to provide safe high quality maternity care for women, babies and their families and has become embedded in all RCM business.

“By signing the Charter, maternity providers are demonstrating their continued commitment to provide a healthy, safe working environment. Improving the safety, health and wellbeing of the whole maternity team enables them to provide safe high-quality care to women, babies and their families.”

Our commitment to the Caring for You Campaign falls within Maternity Support Workers (MSWs) and Women’s Services Assistants (WSAs) Week where we are celebrating and recognising the work of our MSWs and WSAs.

As part of the week-long celebration, our teams have launched Caring for You boxes, which contain wellbeing essentials that may be needed during a shift such as food and hygiene and sanitary products. Colleagues also had the opportunity to join in on wellbeing activities and workshops throughout the week.