Women and Birth
Volume 23, Issue 3 , Page 122, September 2010

Qld Maternity Perinatal Council

Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council, Australia

Article Outline

 

Dear Editor

I read with interest Fiona Bogossian's article entitled “An urgent call to implement systematic monitoring of a comprehensive set of quality indicators for maternity services.”1

I was troubled by the sentence “In Queensland the capacity to interpret outcomes or explain emergent trends has undergone a hiatus following the demise of the Perinatal Quality Councils and the establishment of the Maternity Services Clinical Networks”. I understand the concern behind this statement, but would wish to update your readership with the current status of the Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council (QMPQC).

The last annual report of QMPQC was published in 2005 and it reported on 2002 and 2003 data. The Council, and before it the Queensland Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Morbidity and Mortality (QCOPMM), had functioned since 1995 to, primarily, review maternal and perinatal deaths. With the introduction of the Health Quality & Complaints Commission (HQCC) in July 2006, and subsequent Queensland Health restructures, the Quality Councils ceased to function whilst their purposes and functionality were reviewed. The Councils remained gazetted to Queensland Health.

The QMPQC was reconvened in mid-2009. The purpose of the Council is to:

•Collect and analyse clinical information regarding maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity in Queensland to identify state-wide and facility-specific trends.

•Make recommendations to the Minister for Health on standards and quality indicators of maternal and perinatal clinical care to enable health providers in Queensland to improve safety and quality.

•Assist with the adoption of such standards in both public and private sectors.

The renewal of QMPQC has been notified to Queensland Health and its facilities, networks and committees, the Private Hospitals Association of Queensland, the Health Quality and Complaints Commission, and the Queensland Centre for Mothers and babies. The problem facing the Council is to get this information out to the broader professional and consumer communities. I would like to assure your readers that the Council is firmly resolved to follow the paths suggested by Fiona Bogossian.

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Reference 

  1. Bogossian F. An urgent call to implement systematic monitoring of a comprehensive set of quality indicators for maternity services. Women and Birth. 2010;23:36–40

PII: S1871-5192(10)00040-5

doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2010.05.001

Refers to article:

  • An urgent call to implement systematic monitoring of a comprehensive set of quality indicators for maternity services

    Fiona Bogossian
    Women and Birth March 2010 (Vol. 23, Issue 1, Pages 36-40)

Women and Birth
Volume 23, Issue 3 , Page 122, September 2010

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