Compassionate Connections: Turning rhetoric into reality

Woman-centred care, person-centred care, relationship-based care, personalised care, the 6 Cs including compassionate care—these are all central values of modern maternity policy in the UK. The words trip off our tongues and spill from the pen. But what do they look like in practice? What does it feel like to work in compassionate connection with others—not only those we care for, but also our colleagues? What kind of organisation will support compassionate connections between us?

NHS Education for Scotland has developed a practical and imaginative resource and approach that will help in developing compassionate connections. During a national conference to showcase compassionate connections—organised by Edinburgh Napier University and NHS Lothian and held in Edinburgh on 3 September 2015—Anne Holmes, Chief Midwifery Advisor and Associate Chief Nurse for Scotland, described the Compassionate Connections resource as a way of breathing life into the policy landscape, an approach that could reform and transform services, including the reduction of inequalities.