NNUH selected to take part in National Collaborative
NNUH has been selected to take part in the first wave of the National Maternity and Neonatal Health Safety Collaborative.
Led by NHS Improvement, the programme aims to support improvements in the quality and safety of maternity and neonatal units across the UK and will contribute to achieving the national ambition of reducing rates of maternal deaths, stillbirths, neonatal deaths and brain injuries that occur during or soon after birth by 20% by 2020 and 50% by 2030.
The programme provides an exciting opportunity to build further quality improvement capacity and organisations selected as part of the first wave will be critical to its overall success. As a large tertiary centre for maternity services in the region, NNUH has been selected from a pool of applicants to participate in the first wave of 45 NHS Trusts and is one of only three Trusts in the East region taking part at this stage.
As part of the scheme, NNUH will benefit from around £40,000 worth of extensive training, support and coaching and will also have access to extensive networks of expertise. Clinical leaders and maternity staff from the hospital will attend three, three-day learning sessions over the course of the year. Within these sessions, teams will be supported to assess services and formulate innovative solutions for delivering excellent patient care.
Representatives attending from NNUH will be trained to become qualified improvement coaches, helping to ensure that skills are brought back to the hospital and shared across teams. As part of the support package offered by the programme, training leads will make monthly visits to the hospital to provide regular coaching and assist with developing local improvement plans.
Ann Walker, NNUH Clinical Midwifery Matron said: “We see more than 6,000 births each year at NNUH and pride ourselves on giving our mothers the best experience and their babies a safe and welcoming arrival into the world. Participating in this programme will support our drive towards making our services even better and build on our culture of innovation at the hospital. The team are looking forward to sharing learnings alongside other Trusts with a view to sharing best practice with their NNUH colleagues when they return.”
Frances Bolger, Head of Midwifery at NNUH said: “The national programme provides us with an exciting opportunity to develop our skills for the benefit of our patients. Our drive to provide excellence in maternal and neonatal care will be supported and guided by participation in this collaborative. As a Trust, we are delighted to have been selected as part of the group leading the way in the development of these services for the future.”