Expecting a child, especially for the first time, is a magical time in someone’s life. However, pregnancy and the post-natal period can be fraught with anxiety, worrying if the baby is ok and being confident in what to do next. Knowing who to contact and being able to speak to someone quickly is essential for both mother and baby, and increases confidence in the Service.

The opportunity

The SWFT maternity department approached the Digital Hub to see if there could be a technological solution to getting patients directed and redirected to their relevant teams to answer their questions faster and more efficiently. Perhaps a chatbot or something similar was the idea. Staff felt that they spent quiet a lot of time answering and redirecting phone calls that have come to the wrong team within the department and that mums and mums-to-be found it difficult to know who to contact in different eventualities, due to the number of different teams and opening hours.

What we did

To understand what the problem really was and to gain patient views on their confidence with technology, the Digital Hub ran a survey amongst mums and mums-to-be to find out what issues they would call for, how difficult they found getting in touch with the right member of staff and what kind of technology would they be comfortable with using to sign-post them to the right individuals. The survey ran between January and March 2024, following which our team evaluated the results and met with the department to discuss next steps.

The outcome

The results of the survey both reaffirmed some information that the department already knew, but also gave some interesting results. Overall, 65% of respondents felt confident in knowing who/where to call when they had a concern and only 13% did not feel confident. Furthermore, 80% of respondents felt that it was easy to find the contact details and opening times that they needed.

Although users knowing which department is responsible for what is a key barrier, the department do have a number of communication methods in use that could be utilised further and developed to be more cohesive. This combined with the lack of confidence of patients in using new technology to be signposted, the team felt that there was more that could be done to improve communication before a new piece of technology was introduced.