Gatekeeping access to the midwifery unit: managing complaints by bending the rules
Article
Allan, H., Odelius, A., Hunter, B., Bryan, K., Knibb, W. and Shawe, J. 2015. Gatekeeping access to the midwifery unit: managing complaints by bending the rules. Health. 19 (6), pp. 652-669. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459314567791
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | Gatekeeping access to the midwifery unit: managing complaints by bending the rules |
Authors | Allan, H., Odelius, A., Hunter, B., Bryan, K., Knibb, W. and Shawe, J. |
Abstract | While poor communication between service users and front line staff causes many service user complaints in the British National Health Service (NHS), staff rarely reflect on the causes of these complaints. We discuss findings from an action research project with midwives which suggest that the midwives struggled to fully understand complaints from women, their partners and families particularly about restricted visiting and the locked door to the midwifery unit. They responded to individual requests to visit out of hours while maintaining the general policy of restricted visiting. In this way the door was a gatekeeping device which allowed access to the unit within certain rules. The locked door remained a barrier to women and their families and as a result was a common source of informal complaints. We argue that the locked door and restricted visiting to the midwifery unit were forms of gate-keeping and boundary making by midwives which reveals a tension between their espoused woman-centred care and contemporary midwifery practice which is increasingly constrained by institutional values. |
Publisher | Sage |
Journal | Health |
ISSN | 1363-4593 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 27 Jan 2015 |
01 Nov 2015 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 22 Apr 2015 |
Output status | Published |
Accepted author manuscript | |
Copyright Statement | Helen T Allan, Anki Odelius, Billie J Hunter, Karen Bryan, Wendy Knibb, Jill Shawe, Gatekeeping access to the midwifery unit: managing complaints by bending the rules, Health, Vol 19, Issue 6, pp. 652 - 669. Copyright © 2015 (The Author(s)). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. |
Additional information | Published online before print January 27, 2015 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459314567791 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/850w8
Download files
66
total views20
total downloads0
views this month0
downloads this month