Qld Maternity Perinatal Council

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:

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.