The ‘National State of Patient Safety 2022: What we know about avoidable harm in England’ report, was published on Tuesday 29 November 2022, produced by Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, and supported by the charity Patient Safety Watch.
Commenting on its findings, Sara Ledger, Head of Research and Development at Baby Lifeline, said:
“It is appropriate that maternal and neonatal safety feature so prominently in the ‘National State of Patient Safety 2022: What we know about avoidable harm in England’ report.
“The report identifies issues linked to an under-resourced and over-stretched workforce, which is affecting staff wellbeing and public confidence, and patient outcomes. It also highlights ongoing, and worsening, problems associated access to care.
“Certainly, these are the same themes being repeatedly identified by maternity safety charity Baby Lifeline, as we analyse the findings of various specific reports into what is happening on-the-ground withing maternity services across the UK.
“Indeed, there have been many high-profile investigations into maternity safety within NHS Trusts, which have produced enough stringent recommendations and enough clarity around immediate and essential actions. We now need to focus on making those well-informed improvements to maternity services across the UK.
“At Baby Lifeline, we believe it’s time to start putting these lessons into practice and supporting professionals to do so. Through our #enoughisenough campaign, we’re calling for everyone who cares about maternity services to join us in pledging to take individual and collective action.
“Our aim is to bring families, midwives, obstetricians, neonatologists, obstetric anaesthetists, GPs, paramedics, and everybody interested in the safer care of mothers, birthing people, and babies together with a shared aim: to put learning into action.
“Learning must extend to all team members, and the right training is essential. Baby Lifeline’s most recent Mind the Gap research, published in November last year, found that fewer three quarters of organisations surveyed offered training relating to the five main causes of maternal death, as identified by MBRRACE-UK. This must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”