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A Pioneering Innovation Turns Four: Maternity Direct Celebrates Its 4th Birthday at MSE
As the candles are lit for Maternity Direct's fourth birthday, it’s not just another year older, but another year of transforming maternity care. Maternity Direct, an intuitive telehealth application, connects NHS midwives with women for secure text chats on non-urgent queries. Developed with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE) and Acadiant Limited, it's a birthday party with a difference, marking the UK's first maternity telehealth app to store chat communications securely within the Trust’s electronic record system for future reference.
“We are extremely proud to be celebrating Maternity Direct’s fourth birthday. We’re constantly striving to improve our services and work towards equity in healthcare, and Maternity Direct is a clear testament to that commitment,” said Charlotte Williams, Chief Strategy and Improvement Officer at MSE and a sponsor of Maternity Direct since its inception. “Working with Acadiant helps us innovate and enhance the way we provide care and support to the women in our community.”
With nearly 60,000 users to date, including women registered at MSE for their one-to-one chats and anonymous guests logging in to read Health Information posts, Maternity Direct has proven a success with both women and midwives. 80% of women who responded to a post-chat survey said that Maternity Direct saved them from needing to access another service, resulting in satisfaction for users and potential cost savings for the NHS.
Reflecting on her experience, Nicole C., a Maternity Direct user who gave birth in June said, “I really liked Maternity Direct. Whenever I had a query, I could go on and ask questions and get answers more or less straight away. The chat service was amazing as I felt I wasn't wasting a midwife at the hospital’s time, and I often got the reassurance I needed or advice on what to do. Would highly recommend.”
For midwives, Maternity Direct acts a trusted ally, helping boost resources by allowing them to cover five asynchronous chats in the time of a single traditional phone call—and with a full audit trail. Moreover, for the Trust and ICS, Maternity Direct offers not only cost savings on services the women said they did not need, but also security, compliance and reassurance, as all chats are stored within the Trust’s firewalls, and not on social media platforms.
“I enjoy connecting with and supporting women and their families via Maternity Direct, a digital platform which is easily accessible for all. It's modern and easy to use and enables us to communicate with our service users so they always have a connection with a Midwife at the touch of a button. The team at Acadiant are always happy, friendly and there to support us too :-)” said Charlotte, a Midwife at MSE.
As Maternity Direct blows out its fourth birthday candle, both MSE and Acadiant reiterate their commitment to innovation, aiming to further expand the app's reach and positive impact on maternal health and the NHS.
To see Health Information posts on Maternity Direct, please go to: https://maternitydirect.btuh.nhs.uk
The Way We Do the Things We Do
Want to learn more about Acadiant and how we build such varied, secure solutions so rapidly, at enterprise scale, that run on any device with no downtime? Head on over to our new technology website, Acadiant.io, to see how we make the magic happen. Learn more about the Acadiant technology platform, our vision, our features, and how we can partner with you.
Questions about the Acadiant platform? Contact io@acadiant.com
Acadiant Featured in 2023 DBT Playbook: Good Things Come in Threes!
Acadiant is pleased to feature—for the third consecutive time—in the UK’s Digital Health Playbook published by the Department for Business and Trade. The 2023 edition highlights Acadiant’s innovative, impactful work in data and analysis.
Acadiant has been included in each of the three editions since publication of ‘The First 100 Playbook’ began in February 2021.
To access the 2023 DBT Playbook, please click here: https://eu.eventscloud.com/ehome/200208923/first-100-digital/
The Status Board is part of CHARM’s comprehensive suite of administrative tools for tracking every phase of the harm review process. All data is synthetic.
CHARM - Full Suite of Dashboards to Support Cancer Harm Reviews
Acadiant's CHARM—Clinical Harm, Audit, Review & Monitoring, now offers a comprehensive suite of Dashboards and a Status Board specifically designed to support consultants, nurses, and administrators in conducting clinical harm reviews for cancer patients whose treatments were delayed due to various factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the key features of CHARM is its ability to seamlessly track the progress of the 62+Day Breach form. As each phase is completed, the status of the breach form automatically transitions to the next appropriate dashboard. This functionality enables administrators to monitor and oversee the completion of necessary tasks, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.
Once the cancer team answers the cancer breach questions, they email a link to the harm review. When clinicians picks up their review assignments, they are provided with relevant data from the data warehouse and the cancer registry. This comprehensive dataset supports them in completing the harm review questions and conducting a thorough Root Cause Analysis (RCA). Until the Cancer Service Manager presses the Quality Assurance button, signifying that the review has been completed and is ready for the panel, this review remains on the "Harm Reviews & RCA Awaiting Completion" dashboard. This process ensures that each stage of the review follows an auditable assurance process.
Once the QA button is pressed, and a date for the panel set, the case is moved to the "Harm Reviews Ready for Panel" dashboard. This provides a clear overview for the entire cancer harm review team, allowing them to anticipate upcoming cases and plan accordingly for panel discussions.
For the panel record, all previous information from the 62+Day Breach form is readily available in a read-only format, ensuring that clinicians have all the necessary details at their fingertips when assessing potential harm. The panel's primary responsibility is to determine whether physical or psychological harm was identified for the patient. In cases where harm is established, the panel assigns a grade to the incident and provides further comments and actions. CHARM captures and documents learnings and actions throughout this process. Completed panel records are archived in the "Panel Records Completed with the Grading of Incident" dashboard.
To facilitate quick access to critical information, CHARM consolidates key dates, harm assessments, learnings, and incident grades into a single view on the Status Board. This feature enables clinical leadership to have an instant overview of the current status of each case, allowing for informed decision-making.
CHARM emphasises the importance of assessing whether patients experienced harm due to delays in cancer treatment, while also ensuring that all relevant data is provided transparently. These hallmarks make CHARM an invaluable tool for quality improvement and enhancing the review process for cancer-related harm incidents.
Maternity Direct: A Midwife in Your Pocket wins "Highly Commended" Workforce Innovation Award at HSJ Partnership Awards 2021
Acadiant Limited and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust are delighted to announce that Maternity Direct has been Highly Commended for Workforce Innovation at this year’s HSJ Partnership Awards, recognising their hard work and dedication to healthcare in what has been an unprecedented last 15 months.
Following a comprehensive judging process, Acadiant and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust were handed the prestigious accolade ahead of a highly competitive shortlist.
Held on Tuesday 29th June 2021, the long-awaited evening was the first in-person event for a few lucky attendees from both the NHS and private sector as well as figures from non-clinical backgrounds. The HSJ Partnership Awards took place at the Evolution London where the evening celebrated the very best achievements and innovations in the healthcare sector today across a total of 17 categories.
The Maternity Direct telehealth initiative, first of its kind in the UK, connects a pregnant woman with an NHS midwife for a secure text chat on non-urgent queries, and then stores their chat in the hospital’s electronic patient record. Maternity Direct has been running since well before the pandemic, however, during COVID-19, it proved an extremely valuable dedicated channel for women’s health. With many women and midwives in lockdown or shielding, a dedicated rota of midwives cover the chat sessions, helping scale NHS resources by differentiating between non-urgent queries and essential antenatal appointments. Women’s satisfaction with Maternity Direct is high, with a qualitative survey indicating that thanks to Maternity Direct 80% of users did not have to access another NHS service.
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, who hosted the Awards ceremony, comments, “Congratulations to Acadiant and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust on Maternity Direct’s being recognised for Workforce Innovation at this year’s HSJ Partnership Awards. Following on from what has been an undoubtedly challenging time for the healthcare industry, it was incredible to be involved in celebrating projects of such high calibre.
“This year’s entrants were of such an impressive standard, posing a very difficult challenge to our experienced judging panel, who were not only impressed by the wide range of applicants who demonstrated real evidence of innovation and collaboration, but also great improvements to patient care."
News Archive
Acadiant Expands Maternity Direct Throughout Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust—Coverage in the Essex Echo
Maternity Direct App to be Rolled out to Women due to Give Birth in Southend and Basildon.
Acadiant featured in UK’s Digital Health "First 100" Playbook
Acadiant are delighted to announce that they been selected as one of the Department for International Trade’s Digital Health "First 100" Playbook, which aims to provide a well-researched, credible list of digital health innovators for international healthcare organisations and governments to call upon to support their needs.
Happy Birthday Maternity Direct! Innovative Telehealth App Turns 2
Maternity Direct, the innovative telehealth app connecting pregnant women with NHS midwives for a secure text chat which is then stored in the hospital’s electronic medical records, celebrated its second birthday in August 2021.
Maternity Direct shortlisted as a finalist in the HSJ Partnership Awards 2021
Acadiant and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust are delighted to announce that Maternity Direct: A Midwife in Your Pocket has been shortlisted for the Workforce Innovation Award at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2021, recognising outstanding dedication to improving healthcare and effective collaboration with the NHS.
SMART Mortality Analysis Software Awarded Poster Display at the International Forum on Quality & Safety in Healthcare
SMART, Acadiant’s comprehensive mortality analysis software, developed with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, has been awarded a poster display at the prestigious International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare which had been scheduled to take place in Copenhagen on 28-30 April 2020.
Acadiant Featured in SEHTA Catalogue of Companies Offering Innovative COVID-19 Solutions for the NHS
South East Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA) has chosen Acadiant Limited in the Digital Health Tech category among its MedTech SMEs Catalogue of Companies offering solutions for Covid-19 for the NHS.
Media coverage
University Health Network | 'It was a great relief to know he was well cared for'
CBC | How COVID-19 has pushed health care into the virtual world, helping patients get treated at home
Essex Echo | Maternity Direct app to be rolled out to women due to give birth in Southend and Basildon
Yellow Advertiser | Maternity app for expectant mums
Nursing Times | App allows pregnant women to chat online with NHS midwives
Thurrock Gazette | 'Midwife app' to give mums instant access to support at Basildon Hospital
Thurrock Gazette (print edition) | 'Midwife app' to support mums
Basildon Canvey Southend Echo | Mums-to-be will get instant advice from 'Midwife app'
Southend Standard | Mums-to-be will get instant advice from 'midwife app'
About Us
At Acadiant, we are dedicated to transforming the enterprise software with innovative, intuitive solutions. Our vision is clear: software in professional environments should be as intuitive and scalable as the most user-friendly search engines and social media platforms. Our unwavering commitment to the end-user drives us to design solutions that not only minimize the learning curve but also reduce the cognitive load on all stakeholders.
Our Founders
Bill Chute
Co-founder & Director
Bill, the mastermind behind the Acadiant platform, brings a wealth of experience from his tenures as CIO and CTO at major international financial institutions. His expertise spans business development, digital transformation, and corporate governance. His passion for technology and its potential to revolutionise industries led to the inception of Acadiant.
Jackie Kestenbaum, PhD
Co-founder & Director
Jackie spearheads business strategy, sales, and marketing at Acadiant. An entrepreneurial spirit, she has an extensive background running communication teams for major international financial firms. Jackie holds a doctorate in Architectural History from Columbia University. Jackie is a mentor in the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme.
"I've seen the tremendous positive impact of Acadiant software solutions on hospital processes and the people who use them. Clinicians like collaborating with Acadiant and love how the software contributes to positive outcomes and highlights previously unseen trends. And because Acadiant software minimises the cognitive burden on doctors and clinicians, it helps bring the focus back to patients’ health and care."
– Dr Celia Skinner, Medical Advisor, Acadiant & former Chief Medical Officer, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust