Care bundle boosts outcomes for babies

More than 5,000 interventions a year are being carried out in the North West as part of a programme to improve outcomes for babies and families.

Teams from Health Innovation North West Coast and Health Innovation Manchester continue to promote the Optimisation Care Bundle, a series of nine clinical interventions designed to boost the care of preterm infants.

The work is being delivered as part of the Maternity and Neonatal Safety Improvement Programme (MatNeoSIP).

There is strong evidence that babies who receive all nine measures have better outcomes, and the programme’s successes include:

• In 2023, 88 per cent of extremely premature babies in the North West were born at a maternity unit with an attached neonatal intensive care unit, the best performance of any English region
• In the past year, 800 babies have received colostrum from their mothers within 24 hours of birth
• More than 1,200 babies, 33 per cent more than in 2021, had delayed cord-clamping for more than a minute, which has many health benefits for newborn babies

The care bundle has potentially prevented cerebral palsy in 47 babies since April 2020, with a saving to the welfare system and wider society of up to £47m, and potentially prevented group B strep developing in 83 babies in the region.*

The MatNeoSIP teams have been working with the North West Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (NWNODN) to promote the adoption of the bundle in partnership with maternity and neonatal units. Regular learning events have been held, with over 2,000 hours of CPD since April 2022, all delivered free of charge.

A week of events begins on 25 November to highlight the elements of the preterm optimisation care bundle, culminating on 29 November at Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust with an event celebrating good practice and highlighting parent experiences.

Dr Alex Cleator, Consultant Neonatologist at Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “There’s clear evidence now, more than four years into the programme, that the optimisation pathway is a success.

“We’ve developed a very good relationship with the MatNeoSIP teams who have been instrumental in helping us deliver our optimisation work. They have signposted us to resources to help tackle specific issues and linked us with other units across the region to share innovative ideas for quality improvement.

“The optimisation week this year builds on the strength of last year’s programme. It will culminate in a regional showcase, with a real focus on the antenatal period and sustaining the hard work already going on across the region.”

Amanda Andrews, Senior Programme Manager at Health Innovation North West Coast, said: “The success of the project is down to the collaborative approach between the two MatNeoSIP teams and the NWNODN, alongside the engagement and commitment from maternity and neonatal teams across the region.

“Implementing the care bundle and contributing to sharing best practice and learning has resulted in improved outcomes for mothers and babies and we’re looking forward to even greater improvements in the future.”

The hard work and dedication of the MatNeoSIP, NWNODN and unit maternity and neonatal teams has earned them the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) Gopi Menon Award for the Best Regional or National Project. You can read more here and see the BAPM film here.

*Figures supplied by the National Patient Safety Improvement Programme’s Maternity and Neonatal team.