Expectant Mothers Encouraged To Use Vital Service

Thousands of expectant mothers successful nan East of England person taken up a caller NHS work and much are being encouraged to return part.

Women crossed Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and elsewhere person been utilizing nan service, wherever they tin mention themselves straight to their section maternity services - without nan request to first spot a GP - by completing an online form.

Wendy Matthews, NHS England's main nurse for nan region, said nan referral strategy was a "leap guardant successful helping women person much control" done their pregnancies.

Grace Sutton, from March, Cambridgeshire, who has utilized nan system, said she recovered it to beryllium "a really elemental process".

In nan East of England, 1,704 referrals person been made to Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, pinch a further 1,256 made to North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust has had 1,218 referrals.

It is estimated that nan caller work could lead to 180,000 less calls to GPs - and up to 30,000 less wide believe appointments each year.

Reflecting connected her acquisition of nan service, Ms Sutton added: "Once I had completed nan form, I sewage a telephone wrong 48 hours from nan organization nurse astir booking my appointment... it was really straightforward and reassuring to get nan first assignment quickly."

First appointments supply an opportunity for women to talk their gestation - and put early screening tests which tin place high-risk pregnancies.

Ms Matthews said: "GPs will ever beryllium disposable for immoderate pregnant women who person concerns astir their gestation that they request to discuss, aliases different wellness conditions that request monitoring, aliases who don't person entree to smartphones.

"However, GP teams don't request to beryllium nan first constituent of interaction erstwhile personification finds retired they're pregnant, truthful this speedy and easy instrumentality is besides helping easiness unit connected GP believe teams and freeing up clip for different patients who are looking to make an assignment pinch their GP."