Improving Preterm Care with the PERIPrem Trolley at Princess Royal Hospital

The maternity and neonatal team at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford began their PERIPrem (Perinatal Excellence to Reduce Injury in Preterm birth) journey in late 2023. PERIPrem is a care bundle of 11 evidence-based interventions proven to reduce brain injury and mortality in premature babies. It encourages collaboration between obstetric, midwifery, and neonatal teams to optimise care.

Initially, adoption was strong but later slowed. Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Stacey Dixon, identified a key barrier: staff needed to gather equipment from multiple locations, making the process inefficient and sometimes leading to missed paperwork.

Stacey introduced the ‘Preterm Trolley’, which is a lockable, five-drawer unit containing all essential resources in one place, including the PERIPrem passport and critical medications. This simple innovation streamlined workflows, supported simulation training, and is now standard practice across the unit. Thanks to funding from the Midlands PERIPrem Partnership Group, additional trolleys have been deployed in delivery, antenatal, and triage areas.

Impact:

Improved efficiency and consistency in preterm care
Enhanced staff confidence through simulation exercises
Greater parental involvement via PERIPrem passports

Stacey showcased the trolley at the Midlands MatNeoSIP conference and network meeting, inspiring other units to adopt similar approaches.

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