General

You will undertake five practice modules as a part of your midwifery programme. The Department is fortunate in having a range of student placement opportunities within three Hospital Trusts. Each of the Trusts offers different learning environments and opportunities for student midwives. An overview of the clinical placements is given below.

Placements

During the programme you will be allocated a ‘home trust’ and ‘away trust’ placement. You will be allocated a home trust placement for the duration of the programme which takes into consideration your preferences stated at interview. Your home trust is where you will spend most of your clinical time during the programme. 

During the second year, you will have the opportunity to experience clinical practice within another maternity setting, this is known as your ‘away trust’. This will enable you to experience a different learning environment and offer you the opportunity to broaden your understanding of midwifery practice and the context of care.

The sequence of clinical placements has been selected to underpin your theoretical progression through the programme. You will be allocated a named practice assessor in each placement. Your practice assessor will be responsible for co-ordinating your clinical experience and be responsible for your clinical assessment. You are expected to contact your practice assessor prior to the commencement of your placement to agree a date, time and place to meet for your orientation to the placement and the negotiation of your learning contract.

It is your responsibility to ensure you can travel either by private or public transport to any of the placement areas. If this is difficult on a daily basis to meet clinical commitments, you may prefer to book yourself temporary accommodation near to the placement.

Whilst in clinical practice, you will be encouraged to experience different shift patterns under the supervision of an appropriately qualified member of staff. This may include early shifts (which might commence at approx. 7am); late shifts (which might finish at approx. 10pm); weekends, bank holidays and night duty. Alternative working patterns can be accommodated by negotiation with your practice assessor.

Your course plan details the programme weeks that you will be in clinical practice. It is not permissible to work in clinical practice during your annual leave weeks.

Travel to placement costs

The Student Services team will provide you with full information and guidance on travel to placement costs.

Practice allocations

All practice learning areas are subject to educational audit to ensure they provide an environment that supports your achievement of the programme learning outcomes.

The Department has a team of staff dedicated to practice allocation. For each experience they consider a number of complex factors, of which the most important is to ensure you will meet the programme learning outcomes. The equity of travel for all students is also taken into account. Please note that no changes will be possible unless there are exceptional circumstances. If there are exceptional circumstances indicating that you should not be allocated to a placement area then you should raise this with your Personal Supervisor with a view to OH referral and guidance.  If you believe your personal situation has changed and there are now exceptional circumstances that mean you should not be allocated to a specific practice area you will be invited to complete a placement change request form. All requests and subject to panel review and placement capacity, however we will endeavour to offer you alternative allocations for reasons of health or exceptional circumstances. On occasion, where there are no other reasonable placement options, it might be necessary to recommend leave of absence.

More information about the allocation of practice experiences is available on the Practice Education Support webpages.

Elective practice placement

At the end of Stage 2, you will normally have the opportunity to undertake a four-week elective placement. Some students choose to undertake two elective placements for two weeks each. It is an opportunity for you to observe an alternative model of maternity care provision, either in this country or abroad. You must arrange and self-fund this placement and are therefore advised to make plans early to ensure all details are in place for a valuable and rewarding experience. If you choose to gain experience in a private capacity or outside the country, you must not provide direct care as you are not insured to do so. However, much can be gained from an observational placement and witnessing care from another perspective. You will agree a set of personal learning outcomes for the elective with your supervisor and provide feedback to the student group and an invited audience of lecturers and clinical colleagues during the next academic term. The programme will comply with the University’s Code of Practice on elective placements.

You MUST be aware that any costs incurred in developing and planning an elective experience are taken at your own risk.

Case load

During Stage 3, you will develop your own case load under the guidance of your practice assessor. It is expected that you will have the opportunity to provide total care for a group of women throughout pregnancy, birth and the early postnatal period (as far as is practical). This model of care will encourage you to build a dedicated relationship with the mother and her family. The module leader will discuss guidelines for case load holding at the beginning of Midwifery Practice 5.

Continuity of carer (CoC)

Better Births, the report of the National Maternity Review set out a vision for maternity services in England. This included the idea that women should have continuity of the person (midwife) looking after them during their maternity journey, before, during and after birth. This model of care was implemented across the clinical areas you will access during your programme however, implementation occurred at different rates in different areas and is now guided by further national and local policy. As such, your experiences of this model of care may differ between clinical areas. 

Professional indemnity insurance

For pre-registration programmes it is a condition of re-enrolment that the student agrees to maintain Professional Indemnity Insurance. When working on placement for a healthcare organisation, arranged through a University, students will generally be covered by the organisation’s indemnity arrangements. However, in some of the smaller placement providers any elective experience further cover may be required. This cover can be obtained either through membership of a professional union or from a personal broker. If you choose to join a professional union, please ensure that cover is provided. Examples of professional unions our students have joined are RCM and Unison. Please note exclusions may apply.

If you indicate at re-enrolment that you do not have professional indemnity insurance your supervisor will discuss this with you.