Working together for safer births: supporting Brain Injury Awareness Month through maternity safety improvement
News
As the UK marks Brain Injury Awareness Month, organisations across the health and care system are highlighting the importance of preventing brain injuries and improving support for those affected. Brain injuries can occur in many ways, including around the time of birth. One rare but serious condition is hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which occurs when a…
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Looking back and leading forward: Martha’s Rule celebration event
Blog article
Siobhan Lanigan is a Critical Care Nurse at the Bristol Royal Infirmary on secondment to Health Innovation West of England to support the local rollout of Martha’s Rule. In this blog, Siobhan reports on a recent event to celebrate our collective achievements to date in rolling out the Martha’s Rule patient safety initiative across our…
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Health Innovation West of England hosts regional launch of ABC maternity safety programme
News
At the end of last month, we successfully organised and led the regional launch of the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) programme. Held on 28 January at Eastwood Park, Gloucestershire, the event brought together maternity professionals from across the West of England to support safer childbirth practices. The ABC programme, developed collaboratively by THIS…
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New e-learning helps NHS staff implement Martha’s Rule
News
An e-learning introduction to Martha’s Rule has been developed by NHS England, with support from the West of England Patient Safety Collaborative, to help NHS staff implement Martha’s Rule. Martha’s Rule is a patient safety initiative that ensures the concerns of patients, families, carers and staff around deterioration are listened to and acted upon. The…
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Ann Remmers receives OBE in New Year Honours for services to maternal and neonatal care
News
We are delighted to announce that Ann Remmers, Maternity and Neonatal Clinical Lead at Health Innovation West of England, has been awarded the honour of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King’s New Year Honours List 2026 for services to maternal and neonatal care. Ann Remmers, who last year was…
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West of England PreCiSSIon Collaborative wins prestigious OneTogether Award 2025
News
We are proud to announce that the West of England PreCiSSIon Collaborative has been selected as a winner of the 2025 OneTogether Awards. The award recognises the Collaborative’s remarkable achievements in reducing surgical site infections (SSIs) following caesarean birth, through a pioneering regional safety initiative. The OneTogether Awards celebrate UK healthcare professionals and teams for…
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Health innovation highlights: our review of 2025
News
As the year draws to a close, it’s traditional to take stock and reflect on what we’ve achieved together before we launch ourselves into the new year. 2025 has been another year of collaboration, innovation, affirmation and impact – all the more extraordinary considering the challenges the NHS community is currently facing. This year, we…
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In conversation: Jan Scott, Senior Programme Manager – Patient Safety
Blog article
In the latest in our series of interviews with members of the Health Innovation West of England team, we talk to Senior Programme Manager, Jan Scott, who leads our patient safety programmes. Jan reflects on her career so far, the work she’s passionate about, and the impact in patient safety we’re collectively striving to make across…
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New animated explainer launched to promote Martha’s Rule
News
Health Innovation West of England has launched a new animated video about Martha’s Rule, designed to clearly explain this vital national NHS patient safety programme to both members of the public and healthcare professionals. Martha’s Rule is named in memory of 13-year-old Martha Mills, who tragically died from sepsis after concerns raised by her parents…
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Black Maternity Matters statement: National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Interim Report
News
The Black Maternity Matters Collaborative welcomes the publication of the National Maternity & Neonatal Investigation Interim Report and strongly supports its call for urgent, systemic action to tackle racial inequities in maternity and neonatal care. The findings continue to reinforce what communities and professionals across our region have been highlighting for many years: that women,…
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