An evaluation of time spent by midwives on supervisory activities

Recent workload analysis has suggested that supervisors of midwives spend one day a fortnight on supervisory activities, but this assumption did not rest on hard data. A survey of all supervisors in England, facilitated by the LSA Midwifery Officers (England), demonstrated that supervisors were more likely to spend a day a week on supervision, but it also identified major differences in the perception of the role: most supervisors identified specific times spent on supervisory tasks while a minority was more likely to identify supervision as an intrinsic part of their midwifery activities. This phenomenon was not affected by length of qualification or number of hours worked, but was more common in H grade midwives as well as in some LSA regions. Further research would be useful to identify potential differences in the style and characteristics of these different groups of supervisors.