The RCP has worked with NHS England (NHSE) to create the curriculum, training and assessment of obstetric physicians.
Responding to the launch of NHSE’s maternal medicine network this week, RCP Registrar Professor Cathryn Edwards said: "The RCP welcomes the development of specialist training centres for maternal medicine as announced by NHSE earlier this week. Most importantly, working with the leadership of the obstetric physician community - Prof Catherine Nelson-Piercy, Dr Lucy Mackillop, Dr Anita Banerjee and Dr David Williams - the RCP is delivering a well-established diploma in maternal medicine and is supporting the further development of training and credentialing initiatives.”
The RCP was commissioned by NHSE to work with clinicians to deliver a curriculum for obstetric medicine with supporting resources and a structured framework to enable implementation, assessment, and certification. We were also asked to make recommendations for the development and sustainable roll-out of networked maternal medicine across England.
The initial pilot and design of the programme centred on four established maternal medicine centres to deliver the training and assessment for obstetric physicians. To support the expansion of NHSE’s maternal medicine networks, a further phase of the pilot is underway to develop a robust and quality assured process to onboard new centres to deliver the diploma in obstetric medicine.
There are now 24 consultant obstetric physicians in England, and we hope to see this specialty grow as we design and support a national recruitment process for new learners from September 2024.