O77 - Midwifery and Obstetric Emergency Telehealth Service across Country WA aims to improve patient access, outcomes and staff retention

Abstract

The Western Australia Country Health Service (WACHS) is the largest geographical health service in Australia, covering 2.5 million square Kilometres. The population is diverse, highly dispersed and has widely varying health needs. In 2020-21, there was over 4,200 births across 18 birth sites in country WA, many of which are staffed by just one midwife during a shift. For mothers in country WA, this often means there is no local access to maternity care providers and a need to travel long distances away from home to access maternity care. The Midwifery and Obstetrics Emergency Telehealth Service (MOETS) was introduced in February 2022 through the existing WACHS Command Centre to deliver expert midwifery and specialist obstetric advice via state-of-the-art bedside technology in real-time to support frontline clinicians, including Emergency Departments (ED) and maternity services. The MOETS offers: • specialist midwifery and obstetric support at the bedside for unplanned maternity and gynaecological presentations at non-maternity hospitals (Eds); • consultation and expert opinion through the introduction of new technologies to remotely review cardiotocographs (CTGs) at maternity sites; • a friendly expert available via phone /bedside screen 24/7 to provide collegiate advice, support, reassurance and opinions to give assurance and confidence to both country clinicians and country families; and • logistical support for maternity and neonatal transfers; to enable local clinicians to continue provide clinical care. MOETS aims to not only improve the country clinician experience, many of whom work in isolation, and also those who are recently qualified, new starters or agency /locums but to also improve the outcomes and experience for mothers, partners and newborns whilst keeping care closer to home and community. The new MOETS will be formally evaluated to assess the staff experience and patient satisfaction, the improved equity of access, staff recruitment /retention and clinical outcomes, including transfer rates.