Tony Ryall

Wellington, Feb 7 NZPA - The Ministry of Health has been asked to focus on improving quality and safety for pregnant women and their babies, Health Minister Tony Ryall says.

Mr Ryall said at the weekend the ministry was no longer working on the Draft Maternity Action Plan, which received a wide range of suggestions and observations.

"We didn't want the result to be a so-called Action Plan which was a goulash of everyone's ideas, with lists of what will be done in years to come," he said.

"We want a focus on what matters, and immediate time frames."

Mr Ryall said that over the next 18 months the ministry would focus on:

* Developing national quality and safety standards, including maternity service standards, clinical indicators and key performance indicators;

* Revising referral guidelines to include protocols for transfers of care and emergency transfers;

* Improving maternity information systems and analysis; and

* Developing standardised, electronically transferable maternity notes to improve communication in transfers to other professionals.

"These are the areas that were strongly supported by a wide range of submitters and reinforce the Government's view that the mission of maternity services is the health and safety for mothers and their babies," Mr Ryall said.

"When we have delivered on these actions we will look at the next priorities for improving maternity services."