Leading & Managing Change in Midwifery - HEA00156H
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2026-27 |
Module aims
Note: This document uses the word 'women’ throughout. This should be
taken to include people who do not
identify as women but are
pregnant or who have given birth
Critically evaluate leadership
agendas and approaches within contemporary midwifery, maternity
and
health care, recognising professional, organisational and
policy influences.
Promote a systematic understanding and
critical exploration of change management and quality
improvement
methodologies within midwifery, maternity and health care.
Advance effective communication and presentation skills to confidently
address a professional
audience.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will be able to:
1.
Demonstrate critical evaluation of care provision agendas and
leadership approaches within
contemporary midwifery, maternity
and health care, recognising professional, organisational and
policy
needs and influences.
2. Critically evaluate
arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be
incomplete) to
make judgements and frame appropriate questions
which advance quality improvement in
contemporary midwifery and
maternity care.
3. Manage own learning and systematically apply
quality improvement methodologies to contemporary
midwifery and
maternity care.
Module content
Content includes: change management theory and methodologies; quality
improvement methodologies; team
reflection activities to promote
improvements in practice and service; collaboration skills to
implement &
evaluate evidence-informed change at individual,
group, and service level; sustainability agendas within
healthcare and midwifery; effective presentation skills - development
and delivery. Themes within UNICEF UK
Baby Friendly Initiative
(BFI) University Standards mapped to this module to encompass the
nature of leading
change in maternity services.
Please see
detailed mapping of the module to NMC (2019) Standards of Proficiency
for Midwives for the
programme.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Departmental - aural assessment | 100.0 |
Special assessment rules
Non-compensatable
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Departmental - aural assessment | 100.0 |
Module feedback
Written feedback for the summative assessment is provided on the
standard proforma, within the timescale
specified in the
programme handbook.
Indicative reading
Barr, J. and Dowding, L. (2022) Leadership in healthcare. 5th edn. London: SAGE.
Begley, K., Daley, D., Panda, S. and Begley, C. (2019) 'Shared decision making in maternity care: Acknowledging and overcoming epistemic defeaters', Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 25(6), pp. 1113-1120. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jep.13243 (Accessed: 12 August 2026).
British Medical Journal in partnership with The Health Foundation (2020) Quality improvement. [Online]. Available at: https://www.bmj.com/sites/default/files/attachments/resources/2020/05/quality_improvement_-_may_2020.pdf (Accessed: 11 August 2026).
Cameron, E. and Green, M. (2024) Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organisational change. 6th edn. London: Kogan Page.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). (2021) Change management. [Online]. Available at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/change/management-factsheet#gref (Accessed: 10 August 2026).
Cole, A. et al. (2024) 'Accelerating quality improvement frameworks across clinical teams: a evaluation of institutional culture shifts', Journal of Health Organization and Management, 38(2), pp. 145-161.
Gopee, N. (2022) Leading and managing healthcare. London: SAGE.
Hayes, J. (2025) The theory and practice of change management. 7th edn. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Homer, C., Leap, N., Brodie, P. and Sandall, J. (2019) Midwifery continuity of care. 2nd edn. Australia: Elsevier.
Jefford, E. and Jomeen, J. (Eds). (2019) Empowering decision-making in midwifery: a global perspective. London: Routledge.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). (2022) Shared decision making. [Online]. Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/our-programmes/nice-guidance/nice-guidelines/shared-decision-making (Accessed: 10 August 2026).
NHS. (2022) Greener NHS. [Online]. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/ (Accessed: 4 August 2026).
NHS England and NHS Improvement. (2020) Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service. [Online]. Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2020/10/delivering-a-net-zero-national-health-service.pdf (Accessed: 4 August 2026).
Northouse, P.G. (2021) Leadership: theory and practice. 9th edn. London: SAGE.
Renfrew, M.J. et al. (2019) 'Midwifery is a vital solution—What is holding back global progress?', Birth, 46(3), pp. 396-399. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12442 (Accessed: 10 August 2026).
Rosser, E.A. and Wood, C. (2022) Leading and managing change in contemporary health and social care. Edinburgh: Elsevier.
Royal College of Midwives (RCM). (2019) Strengthening midwifery leadership: a manifesto for better maternity care. [Online]. Available at: https://www.rcm.org.uk/media/3527/strengthening-midwifery-leadership-a4-12pp_7-online-3.pdf (Accessed: 4 August 2026).
Royal College of Midwives (RCM). (2021) Making maternity services safer: the role of leadership. The solution series: 2. [Online]. Available at: https://www.rcm.org.uk/media/5415/the-solution-series-2-making-maternity-services-safer-the-role-of-leadership-v1-interactive.pdf (Accessed: 6 July 2026).
The Health Foundation. (2021) Quality improvement made simple. [Online]. Available at: https://www.health.org.uk/publications/quality-improvement-made-simple (Accessed: 6 July 2026).
The King's Fund. (2022) What is compassionate leadership? [Online]. Available at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/what-is-compassionate-leadership (Accessed: 8 July 2026).
THIS Institute. (2020) Replicating and scaling a successful maternity safety improvement programme. [Online]. Available at: https://www.thisinstitute.cam.ac.uk/research-projects/replicating-scaling-successful-maternity-safety-improvement-programme/ (Accessed: 10 August 2026).
University of York. (2022) A practical guide to presentations. [Online]. Available at: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/presentations (Accessed: 5 August 2026).
West, M. (2021) Compassionate leadership: sustaining wisdom, humanity and resilience in health and social care. London: Swirling Leaf Press. [Online]. Available at: https://www.swirlingleafpress.com (Accessed: 17 June 2026).