General

You will undertake three practice modules as a part of your midwifery programme. The Programme 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.

Supervision of Student Midwives

Students will be supervised during all practice learning experiences (either directly or indirectly) at all times by a registered health or social care professional.

Placements

During the programme you will have the opportunity to experience midwifery care in at least two of our designated trusts.  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.

Supernumerary: students in practice or work placed learning must be supported to learn without being counted as part of the staffing required for safe and effective care in that setting. Placements should enable students to learn to provide safe and effective care, not merely to observe; students can and should add real value to care. The contribution students make will increase over time as they gain proficiency, and they will continue to benefit from ongoing guidance and feedback. Once a student has demonstrated that they are proficient, they should be able to fulfil tasks without direct oversight. The level of supervision a student needs is based on the professional judgement of their supervisors, taking into account any associated risks and the student’s proficiency and confidence.  

Part 3 Standards for pre-registration midwifery programmes (NMC 2019 p 21) 

Practice assessor

You will be allocated a named practice assessor in each practice learning 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.

Practise supervisor

You will work alongside a practice supervisor on each shift.  Their role is to enable your learning and facilitate you in achieving proficiencies in your role as a student.  The practice supervisors will sign off your proficiencies. The practice supervisor will contribute to the assessment of your practice by ensuring that you have sufficient feedback to develop your skills.  The practice supervisor will communicate with your practice assessor to ensure that they can assess you at the end of the placement.

Academic assessor

You will be allocated an academic assessor, who will be one of the midwifery lecturers, who will contribute to your summative practice placement assessments.  Your academic assessor will work in partnership with your practice assessor to evaluate your achievements and recommend you for progression.  Your academic assessor will communicate and collaborate with your practice assessor at relevant points to assess any specific learning needs and support you in the development of an action plan.

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. 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.

Elective placements taken outside of the UK, where the NMC Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment (SSSA) are not applicable, will not be able to contribute to the overall 2300 NMC practice hours. Students undertaking an elective placement in these areas will be able to do so for observational and learning purposes only.

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 woman and her family.

Continuity of carer (CoC)

Better Births, the report of the National Maternity Review (2016) 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 Royal College of Midwives (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.