Maternity and neonatal staff from across the region came together for a highly successful ‘Safer Maternity and Neonatal Care across the Midlands’ event. Delivered in partnership with Health Innovation East Midlands, the Midlands Perinatal Team, the East and West Midlands Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (NODN), and the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), the event brought together a wide range of clinical teams to share experiences, showcase improvement work and strengthen collaboration across perinatal services. 

We were privileged to welcome Karen Luyt, Professor of Neonatal Medicine at the University of Bristol, Jamie Sullivan, Advanced Health Intelligence Analyst at NHS Wales Executive and Mandy Clarkson, Consultant in Healthcare Public Health at NHS England – Midlands, as external speakers. Karen and Jamie shared the powerful story of the PERIPrem programme highlighting its development, challenges, data collection and national impact on preterm care. Mandy Clarkson provided a compelling overview of the current regional and national data, underlining the critical role that PERIPrem plays in driving improvements and reducing variation in outcomes for preterm infants. 

In addition to our national speakers, regional clinicians and teams took to the stage to showcase their own work. These presentations highlighted a diverse range of projects focused on improving safety, quality, and outcomes across maternity and neonatal care. It was inspiring to hear about the innovative work taking place within our own region. 

The afternoon featured a series of interactive breakout sessions, giving attendees the opportunity to explore specific topics in greater depth, share learning, and engage in practical discussions. These sessions reflected the strong commitment across the region to ongoing learning and improvement. 

One of the sessions, ‘A systemwide approach to managing deterioration using the PIER (Prevention, Identification, Escalation, Response) Framework’, led by Daniel Hodgkiss, Interim Senior Improvement Manager at Health Innovation West Midlands, received positive feedback. Daniel, who is the Managing Deterioration and Martha’s Rule Programme Lead for the West Midlands, and the National Co-lead for the Managing Deterioration Safety Improvement Plan, led discussions on how using the PIER Framework can support perinatal teams to detect and manage deterioration and the importance of taking a systemwide approach.

A key highlight of the day was the Quality Improvement poster exhibition, where teams from across the region displayed a range of impactful initiatives. These posters celebrated the brilliant work being done to improve care, reduce variation, and ensure safe and equitable maternity and neonatal services. 

Stacey Dixon, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust submitted a poster presentation showcasing the preterm birth trolley she designed to increase the use of PERIPrem passports from the delivery floor to neonatal care. The trolley can be easily moved around and contains everything needed to optimise the care of preterm babies, enabling them to have the best outcome. View Stacey’s poster here. 

Stacey Dixon with her poster.

The winning poster came from Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the East Midlands. The team identified areas of improvement for preterm optimisation at King’s Mill Hospital and created a team of stakeholders to take responsibility for each. They implemented a number of initiatives to help address these, including launching the preterm birth trolley and a midwifery led preterm prevention clinic. View their poster here. 

The winning poster team from Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Overall, the event was a fantastic example of how regional collaboration, shared learning, and a culture of improvement can come together to drive better care for women, babies, and families. A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making the day such a success, we look forward to building on this momentum together.