SCAS Labour Line wins national award for excellence

The Labour Line – a phone line for women in labour launched a year ago by South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) NHS Foundation Trust and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – won the prestigious Royal College of Midwives Excellence in Maternity Care Award at a national ceremony held earlier this month.

The 24 Hour Labour Line – the first of its kind in the country – allows pregnant women to call a midwife at any time of day or night should they go into labour. The Labour Line, based at the SCAS Emergency Operations Centre in Otterbourne, Hampshire, is staffed 24-7 by experienced midwives.

The service now receives on average around 35 calls per day, but at peak times can take up to 60 calls a day. Over the last year, the Labour Line has diverted 18,000 calls that would have been made to labour wards at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and also reduced unnecessary 999 calls to SCAS.

The success of the Labour Line, together with the national award it won from the Royal College of Midwives, has attracted the attention of ITV Meridian. The broadcaster is coming in to meet and film staff working on the Labour Line this Monday (16 March), as well as meet women who have used the service.

Tony Peters, Head of Emergency Operations Centre at Otterbourne, said:

“I’m delighted that this innovative partnership between SCAS and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised by the Royal College of Midwives. Staff on the Labour Line are looking forward to telling ITV Meridian viewers more about the invaluable reassurance and service they provide at a time that can understandably be quite fraught for pregnant women, their partners and families.”

“The Labour Line has been a great success and shows how forward thinking and close partnership working between different parts of the NHS can create real benefits for both organisations, but more importantly, for patients too. Should we receive calls relating to pregnancy or women in labour that come in via our own NHS111 or 999 services, we can pass these directly to the experienced midwives on the Labour Line. This provides reassurance for the caller that they are speaking to an expert who knows exactly the right questions to ask and can advise on the most appropriate and safe response. It allows our emergency operations centre staff, and frontline paramedics, to have more time to respond to other non-pregnancy related emergency and non-emergency calls that come in.”