Category > Quality improvement

National Polypharmacy Programme: Getting the balance right

Led by Health Innovation West of England, the National Polypharmacy Programme: Getting the balance right was a multi-year national initiative designed to address the growing clinical risks associated with problematic polypharmacy. Running from April 2022 to September 2025, the programme engaged all 42 Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) across England and focused on helping healthcare professionals…

PERIPrem (Perinatal Excellence to Reduce Injury in Premature Birth)

Launched in April 2020, PERIPrem (Perinatal Excellence to Reduce Injury in Premature Birth) is a unique perinatal care bundle that aims to improve the outcomes for premature babies across the West and South West regions. PERIPrem reflects the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to reduce stillbirths, maternal and neonatal mortality and serious brain injury by…

Improving care for patients receiving acute non-invasive ventilation

Our project to improve care for patients receiving acute non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has helped to reduce mortality rates from 28% to 22% across the West of England, and modelling shows this approach has saved 165 lives to date. (NIV) services were developed in many UK hospitals after a clinical trial showed that it could reduce…

PreCiSSIon – Preventing Caesarean Birth SSI across the region

From November 2022 to March 2025, the PreCiSSIon programme successfully supported five acute maternity units in the West of England to achieve a 25% reduction in surgical site infection (SSI) rates following caesarean births by testing and reliably implementing evidence-based interventions at the time of surgery. As most SSIs occur after patient discharge from hospital,…

PReCePT – preventing cerebral palsy in preterm babies

Every year around 4,000 women in the UK give birth very early because of complications with their pregnancy. Being born too early is the leading cause of cerebral palsy, which has a lifelong impact on children and families. Magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) given during preterm labour reduces the relative risk of cerebral palsy in very preterm…