Royal college stops accreditation scheme after HSJ coverage

The Royal College of Midwives will no longer accredit new courses, while existing ones will not be renewed when their accreditation runs out.

HSJ has previously highlighted how an accredited training programme in birth trauma for midwives used the controversial Rewind technique. This is not recommended by NICE for post-traumatic stress such as birth trauma and some experts argue it can do more harm than good.

NHS England perinatal mental health clinical reference group chair Giles Berrisford wrote to the RCM in July 2020, asking it to pause accreditation for the therapy while it and the British Psychological Society tried to reach a consensus on how birth trauma should be treated. He suggested a pause could “allow a time for reflection to ensure that only evidence-based treatments are promoted by both organisations”.

However, after HSJ obtained the letter under the Freedom of Information Act, the RCM told HSJ it was “not within its gift” to mandate its members not to undertake training programmes, and said if they sought “further accreditation, that would be subject to a review of content and context in the same way, with regard to the prevailing evidence”.

The RCM also accredits hypnobirthing and aromatherapy courses for mothers-to-be, despite NICE stating maternity departments should not offer these. 

However, Birte Harlev-Lam, RCM’s executive director midwife, told HSJ this week: “Over the past year, we have been reviewing and restructuring the RCM’s professional education offer, including all programmes of work, projects, partnerships and initiatives, to better meet the needs of our members.

“As part of our review a decision was taken to close our accreditation scheme to new applications. Courses which currently hold RCM accreditation will continue to do so until its review date, at which point it will end. The RCM is committed to focusing on research and education to better support midwives and all RCM members in their practice.”

HSJ understands the RCM website was changed to reflect this earlier this month. The RCM charged up to £2,100 to accredit courses, which it said contributed to continuing personal professional development and enhanced the safety and effectiveness of care provision and delivery.