The new world of clinical supervision

Three weeks into my new appointment as Deputy Regional Maternity Lead for Midlands and East, the Easter Bank holiday weekend prompted me to catch my breath and reflect on the dramatic changes and challenges that the midwifery profession—and my career—has faced over the past few months.

Friday 31 March 2017 was a memorable day for the midwifery profession as we said goodbye to statutory supervision, which had been an integral part of midwifery regulation since 1902. Seven days later, Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England, launched a new model of clinical supervision for midwives. The A-Equip (Advocating for Education and Quality Improvement) framework is an employer-led model of clinical supervision for midwives that aims to facilitate a continuous improvement process to value midwives, build their personal and professional resilience and contribute to the provision of high quality of care (NHS England, 2017). The framework is designed to implement a key recommendation of the regulations for change outlined by the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (2013), that supervision and regulatory procedures should be separated.