Strengthening maternity and neonatal voices in South Yorkshire

This came at a pivotal moment: national reforms were reshaping the NHS, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) were taking on a newly strengthened strategic commissioning role, and national scrutiny of maternity services was sharper than ever following the Ockenden and Kirkup reports. In addition, stark inequalities in maternal and neonatal care promoted increased scrutiny and the need for action. 

 

Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships (MNVPs), as the local mechanism for ensuring that service users’ and families’ voices shape maternity and neonatal care, needed to evolve in response. The challenge was clear: how could South Yorkshire ICB ensure its MNVPs remained credible, inclusive, and effective in this fast-changing landscape?

 

Olovus was chosen because of our independence, specialist expertise in involvement, and track record in navigating NHS service change. We worked hand in hand with South Yorkshire colleagues, using a three-phase methodology:

 

• Situation review: capturing context, national policy drivers, and local challenges.
• Discovery: stakeholder interviews, survey, and structured check-and-challenge workshops with system leaders, NHS Trusts, voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE), and MNVP leads.
• Analysis and recommendations: analysing insight, identifying themes and setting out a practical model to strengthen MNVPs in the short and longer term.

 

We provided safe spaces for honest conversations, both on key areas of enquiry and to capture wider relevant insight and suggestions for change. 

 

We flexed the scope of the project as new issues emerged and the need to extend discussions became clear. Fortnightly updates and a clear line of escalation for any issues ensured the project kept on track. 

The review identified five central themes:

 

1. Clarifying roles: defining MNVPs as a partnership or network rather than reliance on a single lead, or a small group of leads. 
2. Becoming more strategic: aligning with national and ICB priorities related to maternity and neonatal care, and system-wide safety and quality goals.
   
3. Reaching diverse communities: building stronger, funded links with VCSE partners, and using data to target specific communities experiencing the greatest inequalities.
   
4. Demonstrating impact: moving beyond “you said, we did” to systematic, evidence-based reporting of how insight influences change and improvement.
   
5. System working: strengthening alignment with ICB involvement teams, Trusts’ patient experience functions, and the wider VCSE.

 

Our recommendations set out a pathway towards a more professionalised, consistent, and strategically influential MNVP model, while maintaining the essence of lived experience and grassroots insight.

 

The findings provided South Yorkshire ICB with a clear roadmap to ensure MNVPs can meet national expectations and respond to local priorities, play a credible role in strategic commissioning, and embed the principle of independence. The recommendations support ensuring diverse voices are sought and heard appropriately, and that a collaborative approach across local partners provides the best possible opportunity for insight to shape ongoing change and improvement across local maternity and neonatal services.  

 

Jodie Deadman, programme director for the Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) at NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said: 

 

“We valued the openness, transparency, and safe space Olovus created for these conversations. Having wider discussions on NHS reforms alongside the review was highly beneficial, their specialist understanding really shone through. The regular reports kept me up to date, and the team’s flexibility meant the work stayed relevant despite a shifting context. Most importantly, the findings reflect the strengthened commissioning role ICBs now hold, and give us the tools to make sure voices are at the heart of maternity and neonatal care in South Yorkshire.”

 

Caroline Latta, director at Olovus, said:

 

“This review came at a time of real transition for the NHS, with ICBs stepping into a more strategic commissioning role. We wanted to make sure South Yorkshire had a model for MNVPs that both honours lived experience and works at system level, so voices of those who use maternity and neonatal services can genuinely shape care. I’m proud that our work has given the ICB a clear, practical roadmap that reflects the challenges of reform, but keeps women, babies and families right at the centre of decision-making.”