Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme – 2024/25

The programme works with all maternity and neonatal providers in our region on a range of key improvement workstreams, aiming to reduce the rate of stillbirths, neonatal death and brain injuries.

On behalf of the Maternity and Neonatal Programme (MNP) Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSC) are asked to support Maternity and Neonatal Safety programmes.  

All PSCs support Integrated Care Systems (ICS) with commissioned patient safety improvement priorities and in doing so, provide a comprehensive national network of support.

Programme aims

  • To contribute to the national ambition, set out in Better Births, to reduce the rates of maternal and neonatal deaths, stillbirths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth by 50% by 2025. 
  • To contribute to the national ambition, set out in Safer Maternity Care, to reduce the national rate of preterm births from 8% to 6%. 
  •  To improve the safety and outcomes of maternal and neonatal care by reducing unwarranted variation in care and providing a high-quality healthcare experience for all women, babies, and families across maternity and neonatal care settings in England. 
  • Saving Babies Lives (SBLV3), safety action point-5.  

Objectives

  • To improve the optimisation and stabilisation of the preterm infant 
  • To improve the prevention of, identification of, escalation of, and response (PIER) to maternal and neonatal deterioration  
  • Objectives aligned to the 3 Year Maternity and Neonatal Plan. 

Optimisation and stabilisation of the preterm infant

The East of England PSC supports the Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems (LMNS) and NHS Trusts to improve the effectiveness of the preterm optimisation pathway, which consists of nine-evidence based interventions.  

We work collaboratively with the regional maternity team and Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (ODN) to deliver and support the Preterm Birth Forum. Through the Forum, NHS Trusts and LMNS share their improvement projects and innovative resources. The PSC also works closely with service user groups and charities to ensure that any work plans are shaped by the lived experiences of those we are aiming to serve.  

Recognising and Managing Deterioration 

We support health and care systems in the region to ensure that the national Maternity Early Warning Score (MEWS) and Newborn Early Warning Trigger and Track (NEWTT2) tools are implemented within an effective PIER pathway for managing deterioration. 

Perinatal Culture and Leadership (PCLP) 

The PCLP is designed to support perinatal leadership teams to create the conditions for a positive culture of safety and continuous improvement, have a positive impact on the experiences of women, families and babies and enable a more collaborative and supportive workplace. The PCLP has also sought to enable psychologically safe working environments and develop compassionate leadership to make work a better place to be. 

“The project empowered our midwives because when they transferred a woman they felt confident they had provided all the necessary information to give her the best possible outcome and when they received a woman, they had a greater knowledge of the care required and could prepare accordingly. I’m thrilled to hear the project has sustained. It is a great example of a national directive implemented with local knowledge.”

Jo Knox, local learning lead on the Right place of birth project in Norfolk

Find out more about the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme

For more information, please contact Tendai Nzirawa, Maternity Clinical Improvement Lead at tendai.nzirawa@healthinnovationeast.co.uk.

You can access all of the East of England Neonatal Network guidelines and up to date news and resources on their website.

What are NatPatSIPs?

The National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes support a culture of safety, continuous learning and sustainable improvement across the healthcare system. They are run by the Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSCs), which are funded and nationally coordinated by NHS England and NHS Improvement and hosted locally by the Health Innovation Networks.

Find out more…

Share your idea

Do you have a great idea that could deliver meaningful change in the real world?

Get involved

Newsletter