Using quality improvement to enhance maternity and neonatal outcomes

Chair:

• Miriam Deakin - Director of Development and Engagement at NHS Providers.

Panellists:

• Naomi Chambers is the Professor of Health Management at The University of Manchester. Within this session, Prof Chambers discussed the challenges boards faced in maternity services. She drew on evidence from governance literature and empirical research studies about board leadership whilst applying labour process theory to understand maternity workforce cultures and behaviours.
• Carla Jones-Charles is the Director of Midwifery, and Randeep Kular is the Director of Strategic Projects at University Hospitals Birmingham. Both speakers delivered a presentation on health inequalities within maternity services. Using Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits (MBRRACE) data, the speakers highlighted racial differences around perinatal mortality rates.
• Dr Nandi Simpson is the Director of Implementation and Research, and Arnie Puntis is the Policy Manager at NHS Race and Health Observatory. Both speakers shared their findings from a recent report outlining challenges in neonatal care for Black, Asian and minority ethnic babies whilst making clear recommendations for tackling this issue. 

The Learning and Action Network speakers discussed interventions they are implementing to improve maternity and neonatal health.

Speakers included: 

• Noshin Menzies, Senior Project Manager (Health Innovation West of England)
• Tom Baker, Programme Manager – Perinatal Safety Improvement & Georgina Twist, Specialist Midwife Maternal Mental Health (University Hospitals Leicester)
• Jennifer Carroll, Continuous Improvement Clinical Fellow and Jenny Craddock, Midwifery Team Leader (Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)

Resources:

1. Quality improvement Essentials toolkit 
2. Birmingham and Lewisham African and Caribbean Health Inequalities Review (BLACHIR)
3. Review of Neonatal Assessment and Practice in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Newborns
4. Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths and Morbidity
5. Safety, equity and engagement in maternity services
6. Learning and Action Network