Digital communication app rolled out across maternity services in England

Maternity services across Suffolk and north east Essex have gone live with a digital communications app to improve patient experience.

CardMedic is being used widely by multidisciplinary teams, including midwives, obstetricians and other clinical staff, as well as administrative teams at West Suffolk Hospital, Ipswich Hospital and Colchester Hospital.

The app allows women with additional needs, such as language barriers or cognitive impairments, to communicate freely with their clinicians through pre-written clinical scripts and chat functions.

Suffolk and north east Essex is home to a diverse population, including many people with English as a second language.

In some cases, this may affect their ability to access health and care services, which can result in significant health inequalities.

The CardMedic app aims to improve access to care across the entire maternity pathway, enabling expectant mothers, who otherwise would not have been able to communicate effectively, engage in shared decision making throughout their care journey.

“Data tells us that health inequalities exist in maternity services throughout England,” said Teri Gavin-Jones, clinical lead midwife at Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System.

“In the UK, Black women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women, and brown women are two times more likely to die than white women.

“Reducing the equity gap and improving communication is our priority in Suffolk and north east Essex.

“By using CardMedic as a tool to help address communication barriers, we will be able to deliver more equitable services to a larger number of people in the region.”

She added: “Being in hospital is often an unsettling experience, and even more so for people who can’t communicate effectively.

“The work we’re doing with CardMedic is playing a major role in reducing this confidence gap, helping to make having a baby the exciting experience it should be.”

Emma Connell-Smith, project delivery lead at Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, said: “The app is going to make patient journeys safer, and provide a better experience.

“It will give people the opportunity and confidence to ask questions, and give clinicians the ability to respond quickly, which is so important in urgent situations.

“We have 44 languages and formats sitting in our pockets now, which is going to streamline the services we provide.”

The organisation is now working with CardMedic to develop new content for the app.

“While the priority is making sure people are happy and confident about the care they’re receiving, we want to be able to have non-clinical conversations too,” Connell-Smith added.

“Being able to ask if they’re comfortable or if they’d like a cup of tea can make such a big difference to someone’s experience.

“We’ve worked collaboratively with CardMedic since we started the partnership and I’m excited for us to bring new functionality to the organisation together with the team.”