Law and the midwife: collaborative working

Maternity claims account for the second most numerous but most costly negligence claims (NHSLA 2012). Existing research has identified links between the fear of litigation and defensive medicine (Symons 2006; 1998; Hood et al 2010). Prompted by Government calls for more collaborative working practices, lecturers from the Law and Midwifery departments united to explore and implement collaborative teaching and learning. The initial aim was to dispel fears of litigation by creating a teaching event involving final year law and midwifery undergraduate students. Interprofessional education (IPE) is when two or more professions learn with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care (CAIPE). IPE has been found to enhance collaborative practice (WHO 2010). Hammick et al suggest that adapting Interprofessional education to show “reality of practice” and “authenticity” for specific groups of learners leads to beneficial results (Hammick et al 2007). Gilligan’s study noted that students found most valuable those sessions where they were able to work alongside other professional students on an actual problem thereby learning from each other. Interaction with other professional student groups was valued over a simple lecture by a lecturer from another professional group, for instance. (Gilligan et al 2014). We applied these examples of good practice to a law and midwifery setting in a combined workshop. The teaching event fostered an exchange of ideas through problem based learning, case study review and debate surrounding high profile cases. The debate was lively, analytical and reflective. This interprofessional learning was well received by both sets of students and they requested further sessions scheduled earlier in the academic year. These workshops are being planned using the same model of teaching both groups together working on solving problems ensuring interaction between the two professional groups. To encourage further communication between the professional cohorts, a series of evening seminars “Health and the Law: Round table discussions” are planned during 2014/15 to tackle complex topics medico-legal issues such as forced caesarean, mental health and vulnerable families. Speakers from multiple disciplines will discuss issues related to and seen from their professional perspective. The aim is to initiate contact and debate between the professions to enhance good practice in NHS trusts, give students further opportunities for interprofessional learning and to also provide a platform to assist staff in their Continuing Professional Development. The collaborative model has also led to a qualitative research project we are planning on assessing midwives’ fear of litigation matched against the actual incidence of litigation due to be completed by September 2015.

Conference theme - ‘Better Births: United in Excellence’