Skip to content

West of England Academic Health Science Network

Maternal and Neonatal Health Safety Collaborative

The Maternal and Neonatal Health Safety Collaborative is a three-year programme, launched in February 2017. For more information visit NHS Improvement’s page on the collaborative.

Register for our 27 February event.

Please bookmark this page for your reference as it will be updated throughout the collaborative. Click below on the topic you are interested in…

useful resources-01

 

About the Collaborative

We are working in partnership with our Local Maternity Systems (LMS) and other partners including:

Download maps of our local learning system region which covers the West of England and Somerset.

The South West Clinical Maternity Network have produced very helpful frequently asked questions on Local Learning Systems.

The Approach

Driver diagrams and change package

Calendar of activities

 

Month
Events and WebEx
SCORE (culture survey)
Submissions
March
 1 March Sharing Day (London)
 Wave 1 SCORE support
April
 Introductory visit to Wave 2 Trust
May
9 – 11 May Wave 2 Learning Set 1 (Manchester)
Presentations available on Guidebook code MN18
17 / 21 May SCORE mapping
22 May Using your data
15/ 22 May Understanding SCORE results
30 May Learning Boards
24 May SCORE mapping template completed
Pre-survey communications internally
29 May SCORE survey link sent to organisations
  • FAQ on SCORE
  • IHI Framework for Safe, Effective and Reliable Care
14 May Wave 2 Highlight Report due
24 May SCORE mapping template
June
Webex: 4 June: ATAIN
17 June SCORE survey closed
18 June Wave 2 Highlight Report due
30 June finalise Improvement Plan on Improvement Portal
July
 3 July Local Learning System 1 (Bristol)
Webex: 10/17 July: How to access SCORE results platform
3 July LifeQI clinic
w/c 23 July SCORE results available
  • Interpreting your results slides
  • Interpreting and using your results guide
Monthly Highlight reports due (date TBC)
August
6 August SCORE debriefs start
September
5 September Local Learning System (South West)
Presentations
11 – 13 September Wave 2 Learning Set 2 (London)
Presentations available on Guidebook code W2LS2
 
Image from the Awkward Yeti
 LLS Survey 1: Opens 1 September deadline 21 September
October
 10 October Local Learning System 2 (West of England)
Webex sessions, Monday’s 3pm – 4pm (email nhsi.maternalandneonatalsafety@nhs.net to join)
  • 8 October — Smoke-free pregnancy
  • 15 October —  Diabetes in pregnancy
  • 22 October — Neonatal hypoglycaemia
  • 29 October — Optimisation of the very pre-term infant
  • 5 November — Deterioration
November
December
 5 December Learning System for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Somerset (Exeter)
January 2019
 16 – 18 January Wave 2 Learning Set 3 (Bristol) please contact your Improvement Manager if you need your access code. 
7 January Wave 3 organisations will be sent the resource pack for SCORE survey
14 January 3pm or 21 January 3pm WebEx with central team
February 2019
 Local Learning System 3 (Bristol)
7 February SCORE survey link sent to Wave 3 trusts for distribution
 LLS Maturity Assessment
March 2019
20 March Learning System for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon and Somerset (Exeter)
25 March National sharing day; London; please contact your Improvement Manager if you need your access code.
15 March Wave 3 SCORE survey closes
LLS Survey 2: Opens 1 March deadline 22 March
April 2019
Wave 3 launches
  • Introductory visits to Wave 3 Trusts
15 April SCORE results for Wave 3 Trusts and debriefing
May 2019
22 May Bristol Local Learning System 4
June 2019
July 2019
August 2019
September 2019
25 September, Bristol Local Learning System 5
October 2019
November 2019
December 2019
January 2020
February 2020

Back to top

What is Quality Improvement?

Level
Description
Watch and Read
Training
Learning
Introduction to Quality Improvement Training
At the Learning level the subject may be new to you. You will gain an understanding of the subject and know where it fits within the improvement process. You do not have to have developed competency in all areas before you move onto the next level. It is important to be aware that you could be at the Learn level in one subject, such as Measurement, but in the subject of Using PDSAs you may be at the Lead level.
Watch and share this video from Dr Mike Evans on QI in healthcare.
Read one of Sonia Sparkles’s sketchnotes
Watch Human Factors: A Quick Guide.
Online training through the Improvement Academy Bronze QI training
Attend an “Anyone for tennis? Introduction to QI” workshop
Improvement Academy: Human Factors Bronze level
Living
Applying your Quality Improvement knowledge in practice
At the Living level you will be starting to apply your knowledge and will be on the road to developing your skills in practice. You may find that you feel your confidence and skills transitioning from being a novice user of the skills progress you to becoming a confident implementer. You will be using the knowledge and skills in your improvement work alongside others in the project team or independently. You will be aiming to feel that you are “living” the skills in your day to day improvement work.
Watch an introduction to Quality Improvement in 4 objects — a Russian Doll, a lamp, a tally sheet, and scales and then read the supporting blog post.
Access the MINDSET QI toolkit at http://mindsetqi.net
Read our Guide to Quality Improvement: a handy, A5 sized handbook, which explains what QI science is all about and how it can be used to deliver safer and better patient care
Apply for the Q network at https://q.health.org.uk/join-q/
Online training through Improvement Fundamentals
1.       Quality improvement theory
2.       Quality improvement tools
3.       Measuring for quality improvement
4.       Spreading quality improvement
Register for LifeQI
Access IHI Open School (contact your improvement lead for password)
Leading
Leading yourself and others in quality improvement
At the Leading level you will be confident that you are able to lead yourself and others in the implementation of a subject area. It may be that you lead a new improvement team through the exercise of writing a driver diagram. You do not need to be a leader in your job role to be a leader of QI – anybody in the improvement team can progress through the competency levels of the 3 Ls and become a Leader.
Watch Bill Lucas talk on the Habits of an Improver
Read Plot the Dots guide and access resources.
Watch videos at  The Little Voice Inside
Wessex AHSN’s keys to positive practice
Online training through Future Learn Quality Improvement in Healthcare
Online training through the Edward Jenner programme
Host your own “Anyone for tennis?” session with a team

Developed based on the 3Ls model initiated by the South of England Mental Health Quality and Patient Safety Improvement Collaborative https://iqmentalhealth.co.uk/

Back to top

Useful resources

Read and share resources shared through national learning sets:

Back to top

Safety Culture and Leadership

Culture simply means ‘the way we doing things around here’. It’s a way of quantifying what it feels like to come to work. A good culture usually means that people enjoy coming to work and feel like a valued member of the team. It’s not about what you do but the way in which you do it in terms of the interactions between people in a unit, team or department.

A good culture cannot be provided by leaders, although they do have a part to play. Culture is local and each member of the team needs to understand their role in supporting and contributing to a positive culture and work environment for everyone, every day. Leaders must drive the culture change by demonstrating their own commitment to safety culture and providing the resources to achieve a culture of safety.

Start a conversation about culture with a colleague. If you need a guide to start the conversation check out Tools to Talk video and Just Ask Me from Sign Up to Safety.

Watch “Safety Differently: the Movie” a 30-minute documentary telling the story of three organisations that changed their safety culture.

Read Wessex AHSN’s keys to positive practice.

Watch this animation which shows the Circle of Care – a framework to help healthcare professionals think about, practice and demonstrate high-quality compassionate healthcare. This framework re-envisions compassionate healthcare by placing it in a broad social and interpersonal context, describing a multi-directional flow of care between healthcare professionals and their colleagues, patients and carers. Crucially, healthcare professionals must also care for themselves. Circle of Care was created as a result of a collaboration between the Simulation and Interactive Learning Centre (SaIL) at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT), and Clod Ensemble’s Performing Medicine programme.

571122694

 

Read about the connection between work-life balance and safety in this article by James Reason: three buckets model.

Watch Dr Neil Spenceley’s talk on civility in the workplace and visit www.civilitysaveslives.com for infographics to share with your team.

Read about Learning from excellence — an approach developed based on appreciative inquiry to look at where things go right. Read their quick start-up guide, watch

Read Safer Healthcare: Strategies for the Real World — this is a free e-book from Professor Charles Vincent and Dr René Amalberti.

Use EUROCONTROL Safety Culture discussion cards in conversation with your team.

Say thank you to a member of your team who has helped you today.

Watch this short video on How to Huddle. Safety huddles are part of a systematic approach to reducing harm. Find out more.

Print some Kudos cards — these are free-to-download cards that you can use for thanking and praising people in your team.

Reflect on how you share praise within your team. How do you pass on positive feedback from patients? How could you improve this?

Reflect on ways to improve communication within your team. You may want to discuss with a colleague or at a team meeting. One technique we have found helpful for these discussions is called TRIZ.

Read about human factors. Communication, teamwork, and resilience are some human factors which can affect safety. The environment in which individuals and teams work, as well as aspects of the task itself, can also have an impact. Human Factors in Healthcare: Common Terms published by the Clinical Human Factors Group is a great introduction to some of the terms used in this field.

Watch The Voice Inside videos and use in conversation with teams — these explore a number of cultural factors affecting maternity safety. The RCOG has also produced a great video on Human Factors and Situational Awareness.

Read the book Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed or watch his talk.

Read the book How to Have a Good Day by Caroline Webb.

Read Human Factors in Healthcare by Debbie Rosenorn-Lanng — available in two parts (Level 1 and Level 2).

Ask a member of the AHSN team to present our human factors awareness session at a team meeting.

Back to top

The West of England AHSN is hosted by the Royal United Hospitals Bath Foundation Trust. West of England AHSN is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our links to external sites.