'Community PROMPT Wales' is an ‘all-Wales’ maternity safety programme developed by the PROMPT Wales National Team who recognised a need for bespoke training for community teams which addressed the principle of ‘teams who work together, should train together.’
Community PROMPT Wales was implemented in September 2021 following a successful 12-month pilot which took place throughout 2020 and participation by all Community Midwives annually has since been mandated by Welsh Government. In the academic year 2022-23, 95% of community midwives participated in Community PROMPT Wales. The training is well received by community team, in particular in relation to the authenticity to their practice:
“…it gives you more confidence because you can go, ‘I’ve been on Community PROMPT Wales.’ You know we’ve had the training. I know it doesn’t prepare you for every eventuality but you do feel more empowered…”
“If I have a PPH at a home birth tomorrow, I feel confident knowing what I have to do, and I know I’ve got the checklists and algorithms.”
The success of this programme has been recognised outside of Wales and the National Team have worked with the PROMPT Maternity Foundation to adapt the resources to enable Health Boards and Trusts throughout the UK to benefit from ‘Community PROMPT.’
Training is presented in a way that provides greater fidelity to practice for community teams. Scenarios take place in birth centres or a simulated home birth, GP surgery or clinic setting and focus on managing emergencies in a small team without early access to obstetric support. Midwives, Maternity Care Assistants (MCA) and paramedics train together, promoting positive and respectful working relationships and an understanding of how each team can support each other. Training in settings where emergencies actually happen facilitates the testing of systems and processes, identifying areas for organisational improvement. The impact of the environment and human factors on safe care is threaded seamlessly throughout the training. This is proving a very popular model, with paramedics now members of faculty supporting their local Health Boards, along with paramedic delegates being welcomed onto all courses.
PROMPT training resources have been adapted to reflect practice in the community and Community PROMPT Wales algorithms, checklists and proformas have been embedded into practice in NHS Wales to support teams in the event of an emergency.
The National Team run Community Faculty Development Training for midwives, paramedics and MCAs to ensure a high quality and standardised approach to facilitation is maintained throughout NHS Wales. Quality assurance by the National Team ensures the training is delivered authentically and to a high standard.
In 2023 our team were awarded the ‘Excellence in midwifery for education and learning’ award by the Royal College of Midwives, for the development and implementation of Community PROMPT Wales.
PROMPT Wales and Community PROMPT Wales at Welsh Universities
We are pleased that Welsh universities have embraced PROMPT Wales and Community PROMPT Wales and have introduced the PROMPT principles into their undergraduate programmes to support a seamless transition to practice after qualifying. Lecturers in each institution are trained as PROMPT Wales facilitators to ensure fidelity to the PROMPT model and the all-Wales approach.
The National Team support the universities through sharing of resources and attendance at training days. Elements of PROMPT Wales and Community PROMPT Wales have been provided for student midwives, student paramedics and maternity support workers. Some of the universities run a full course inviting paramedics or medical students to train with student midwives, and a multiprofessional faculty from their local Health Board. Student Midwives are also encouraged to attend a course within a health Board, particularly within their third year.