Reading the Signals report

Documents

MBRRACE-UK report

Every year MBRRACE-UK produces a “Perinatal Mortality Surveillance” report which provides rates for stillbirths and neonatal deaths, and also for these deaths combined; known as ‘extended perinatal deaths’.

Mortality rates vary between hospitals, particularly if those hospitals care for larger numbers of babies or very sick babies. MBRRACE-UK use the number of babies born in an organisation, as well as whether they have either a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or a NICU and facilities for surgery for newborn babies, in order to group together similar Trusts.

MBRRACE-UK then compares the mortality rates for each organisation to the average mortality rates for their own particular group.

You can read about how we are embedding a safety, learning and improvement culture to reduce neonatal deaths and still birth and avoid preterm birth, in our Strategy for Excellence in Maternity Care.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists invited service review, 2015

The Trust commissioned an independent review of its women’s health services from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in 2015 to gain an expert and independent view that would inform the actions needed to improve the service.

The Trust received the report in February 2016 and reported receipt at its next public Board meeting.

The findings of the review were used to openly manage improvements in the Trust’s maternity services. Following an extraordinary Improvement Plan Delivery Board attended by representatives from NHS Improvement, NHS England, Public Health England and the CCGs, the recommendations of the RCOG report were embedded into the Trust’s improvement plan for action and monitoring, and progress on this was routinely reported to the Trust Board in public. 

Read more about the Trust’s response to the RCOG report.

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health invited service review, 2015

In 2014 East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust invited the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) to review the paediatric services at the Trust. The RCPCH report was completed in 2015. The Trust acted on the report’s key recommendations by appointing additional acute paediatric consultants and reviewing their job plans, increasing nurse staffing levels, ensuring there is a named consultant in the Emergency Department responsible for children’s emergency care and a named doctor for safeguarding. Regular Child Protection peer review sessions are held and child protection cases discussed and learning shared.