PKB enables maternity services to replace fragmented, paper-based processes with one record, with the ability to share digital care plans, advanced branching questionnaires, remote monitoring, team-based messaging, and patient-driven data collection, all accessible through the NHS App. The pregnant person and families are empowered through direct access to their maternity information, while clinical teams benefit from improved communication, streamlined workflows, and better visibility throughout the pregnancy journey.

Maternity Automated Advanced Questionnaire Use Case

Since September 10th 2025, the Imperial Maternity Team has been utilising Patients Know Best (PKB) Advanced Questionnaires (AQ) to streamline digital care. By transitioning from four separate Personalised Care and Support Plans (PCSPs) built in the Plans section to a single, automated, advanced questionnaire, the team captures crucial health and well-being data from mothers-to-be at four distinct milestones throughout their maternity journey.

The Problem

Previously, tracking maternal health milestones across different stages of pregnancy required managing four separate, manual care plans. This structure relied on patients self-initiating care plans at 16, 34, and 36 weeks, and at post-birth milestones.

The PKB Solution

Imperial transitioned the workflow to a single PKB Advanced Questionnaire with embedded branching logic.

• Integrated via APIs, the PCSP questionnaire is automatically triggered and sent to the patient's record.

• The patient opens a single questionnaire and clicks on the specific stage of her pregnancy. The questionnaire dynamically branches to surface only the questions, health/well-being checks, or birth preference queries relevant to that specific milestone. 

• Completed questionnaires are stored directly within the patient’s PKB record and are available to staff via Single Sign-On (SSO) for review and to focus discussion during face-to-face appointments.

• Advanced questionnaires are sent to registered and unregistered patients. Patients are invited to register after completing the questionnaire, giving them access to appointments, letters and test results available to all patients in Imperial via PKB. 

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Benefits

• Consolidating four disparate care plans into one centralised, branching questionnaire simplified the user experience for both patients and clinicians.

• API automation removes the need for manual distribution, ensuring equitable and timely delivery to all patients in the team. 

• Gathering health, well-being, and birth preferences ahead of time allows midwives to review data prior to appointments, reducing verbal repetition and maximising time spent on high-value, personalised clinical care.

• The workflow has seen exceptional engagement, securing over 6,000 patient responses since its launch, proving the viability of automated PKB advanced questionnaires in a high-volume maternity setting.

Mid and South Essex (MSE) Maternity Service

Challenge

Mid and South Essex (MSE) Maternity services previously relied on inefficient communication methods, primarily telephone calls. This led to high administrative burdens, missed calls, and fragmented information. Patients lacked a direct, non-urgent way to contact their care teams, while clinicians struggled to maintain a clear audit trail of patient queries outside of formal appointments.

The Solution

MSE has prioritised PKB messaging as the primary function of its digital rollout to transform patient-initiated communication. 

This targeted approach includes:

• Using messaging to manage non-emergency queries, allowing wards and triage lines to remain clear for urgent enquiries.

• Ensuring all patient interactions are captured within the digital record, reducing clinical risk and improving continuity of care.

For trusts initiating their digital transformation, PKB messaging serves as the foundational step to transition from traditional, manual communication. This approach enables a structured workflow:

• Replacing phone-dependent processes with secure, asynchronous messaging, creating a documented audit trail for all patient-midwife interactions.

• Managing non-emergency queries through messaging allows maternity teams to prioritise urgent clinical concerns and keep triage lines clear.

• Ensuring all patient interactions are captured within the digital record, reducing clinical risk and providing immediate continuity of care from the start of the pregnancy journey.

Key Benefits

• Improved access: Patients can send queries at any time, reducing the frustration of busy phone lines and improving overall engagement.

• Streamlined operations: Midwives can manage and respond to messages during allocated windows, creating a more organised workflow compared to the disruption of constant telephone interruptions.

• Enhanced safety: A written record of advice and information sharing reduces the risk of verbal miscommunication.

• Resource optimisation: Shifting queries to digital channels saves staff time and reduces the operational costs associated with manual administration.

• Patient Empowerment: 24/7 access to records allows patients to monitor health indicators, such as blood pressure, from home.

Core Metrics

• Tracking the decrease in inbound phone traffic to maternity wards and triage lines.

• Moving from the current 56% registration rate toward a 70% target through a large Trust-wide scale campaign and maternity department registration process. 

• Monitoring the total number of chat sessions and unique users to prove time savings and engagement levels.

• Tracking response times with a 24-hour target for midwives to replace non-emergency phone calls.

Next Steps

By establishing messaging as the foundation of their digital strategy, MSE is meeting NHS Long Term Plan goals for digital-first care. 

Key PKB Feature for Maternity Teams

Advanced Questionnaires

Organisations can configure automated workflows, driven by APIs, to trigger smart-branching questionnaires directly into a woman’s PKB record at clinically appropriate stages throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period.

Key Benefits

• Milestone-based automation: Questionnaires can be automatically dispatched at specific stages of pregnancy, after birth, or following key clinical events.

• Smart branching logic: Questions dynamically adapt based on patient responses, helping identify symptoms and risks earlier.

• Patient-initiated reporting: Women can complete questionnaires as needed throughout their pregnancy, enabling proactive self-reporting of symptoms or concerns.

• Direct clinical integration: Responses are stored within the patient record and can be integrated seamlessly into clinical systems for monitoring, triage and escalation.

• Remote monitoring support: Enables maternity teams to safely monitor women outside traditional appointments and prioritise those who need intervention.

Maternity Care Plans

Digital care plans, such as My Choices for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond care plan, give parents access to a shareable and editable maternity care plan throughout their pregnancy journey.

Key Benefits

• Women can access and share their care plan with everyone involved in their care.

• Midwives and clinicians no longer rely on women bringing paper notes or care plans to appointments.

• Care plans remain accessible across organisations and care settings.

• Supports personalised and shared decision-making throughout pregnancy and birth.

Women identified with complications, such as high blood pressure in pregnancy, can be enrolled onto specific digital care pathways.

For example:

• High blood pressure care plan

• Symptom tracking

Team-Based Messaging

PKB enables secure communication between women and their maternity teams directly within the patient record.

Key Benefits

• Women can message specialist teams securely.

• Clinicians can provide timely advice, reassurance and follow-up.

• Reduces reliance on phone calls and fragmented communication.

• Supports continuity of care across community and hospital teams.

• Provides a central communication record linked to the maternity pathway.

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Library

PKB provides a central location for maternity information, guidance and personalised educational content.

Key Benefits

• Access to trusted maternity information and local guidance.

• Supports informed decision-making.

• Reduces misinformation from external sources.

• Information can be tailored to specific pathways or pregnancy stages.

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Maternity Comms Example

When offering PKB to your maternity cohort, it's very important to give them information on how they can use their PKB record to manage their pregnancy and what key features the team are going to use with them throughout their pregnancy, ie care planning and the ability to message the team.

Workflow

Before PKB: ‘Patients were seen in hospital on a weekly basis for BP readings and Urinalysis. A lot of telephone calls from patients enquiring about their blood test results.’

After PKB: ‘Patients and midwives are easily able to monitor measurements and test results within PKB. It has reduced the number of phone calls and attendance into hospital from patients.’

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Further Information

• Maternity care plan templates: example of My high blood pressure in pregnancy and My Choices for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond care plan and workflows

• Maternity questionnaire template: first appointment questionnaire for pregnant women/parents to complete

• Midwifery students getting real-life experience of using a Personal Health Record

• Maternity Smart Goals: examples of SMART goals written by maternity teams