Announcements

Publication of the second report of the Independent Maternity Review

The Review Team has been liaising with NHS England and Improvement and the Department of Health and Social Care and can now confirm that the second report of the Independent Maternity Review of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust will be published no later than 24 March 2022. 

The second report will build upon the work of the first report to ensure the Local Actions for Learning and Immediate and Essential Actions are strengthened and implemented at the Trust and across the wider maternity system in England. We have already seen some excellent progress and significant amounts of new funding for maternity services across England since the publication of the first report.

Thank you for your patience, an update on the precise date of publication will be provided as soon as possible.

Bereavement Training International awarded endorsement by the Neonatal Nurses Association 

The Review Team and I are pleased that the good work of Bereavement Training International (BTI) has been endorsed by the Neonatal Nurses Association (NNA) – an organisation dedicated to improving outcomes and recognising the contributions made to the lives of mothers and babies by neonatal nurses. 

Neonatal Nurses Association endorsement is awarded following a thorough review process in which the applicant must demonstrate the quality of their training event and its relevance to its members. 

Paula Abramson, Principal of Bereavement Training International, is a key member of the maternity review team. Paula and other team members work hard to support families engaged in the review, alongside SANDS, Child Bereavement UK, and Midlands Partnership. 

We hear from families on a regular basis how well supported they have felt and Bereavement Training International has been a considerable part of this support. It is great to see the work of BTI and its support of families is being recognised. 

We welcome the Government’s announcement to invest a further £3 million for the second phase of a programme to improve maternity care and reduce brain injuries at birth, bringing total investment to over £5 million. On Friday 5 November, the Minister for Patient Safety Maria Caulfield announced the additional funding.

These funds will enable the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), in partnership with the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute at the University of Cambridge (THIS Institute) to develop a national programme of tools and training products that supports maternity services across the country.  

The programme will help achieve the Government’s ambition to halve the rate of brain injury during or soon after birth by 2025.

Maternity staff on the ground, as well as women and their families, will be able to be involved at thiscovery.org/abc in developing training, tools, and products for improving the maternity outcomes of mothers and babies. 

Find out more about how the funding will be used to improve the safety of women and babies here.