Medical students at the University of Sheffield have, in the past, spent time on children's wards as part of their clinical rotation in paediatrics. This has largely been seen as a means of increasing their understanding of the role of nurses in order to facilitate professional relationships. Literature would tend to support this view and identifies that closer cooperation and joint training might alleviate some of the differences and divisions between the two professional groups. In order to enhance this experience, a collaborative proposal between the Medical and Nursing Schools and the Sheffield Children's Hospital was put forward that involved each medical student having one ‘nursing day’, during which they would be ‘buddied’ by a senior nursing student in the placement area. This would involve the medical student shadowing and working alongside the nursing student to experience the realities of nursing practice and maximize opportunities for shared learning. As part of the day a joint seminar, facilitated by nursing lecturers, is held in the afternoon on topics relevant to all professional groups working with children to facilitate reflection, discussion and shared learning. It is clear from observing these seminars and from the evaluations of both medical and nursing students that adopting this interprofessional approach to learning is successful in terms of: mutual respect; understanding each others’ roles; enhanced medical experience of the medical student and ability to practice basic care skills, and student nurses developing their teaching and mentoring skills in practice Follow‐up contact with the students involved has revealed that by spending time together in this way, ongoing contact during the remaining clinical rotation was enhanced as the relationship was continued. Ongoing developments have seen cross‐boundary sessions, which involve medical students coming along to the School of Nursing and sharing in lectures delivered by medical staff. Initiatives such as these, by working across professional boundaries, can only be beneficial in providing truly holistic care to the child and family.

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This paper concerns Maternity Services. It begins by describing the development of the current policy in Britain which culminated in the report Changing Childbirth. It proceeds to describe a qualitative investigation in which a group of Heads of Midwifery Service in one health region were interviewed concerning their views about the basic recommendations of the report and their experiences concerning the feasibility of its implementation by 1998. On the basis of its evidence, the study concludes the policy is failing to be fully realized due to both a lack of earmarked resources and confused objectives which are not fully accepted by professionals and are not understood by service users. The findings demonstrate that the Heads of Midwifery believe that what was proposed as a bold and innovative policy has become no more than lukewarm advice. The conduct of the study is described in detail to illustrate how operational managers can research the ways in which policies are influencing service delivery in their field of practice.

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