Today, the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations programme (MNSI) has published its annual report, giving an overview of work during 2023/24 and setting out plans and priorities for the year ahead.
MNSI is the leading body for maternity and newborn safety investigations in England. The report details MNSI’s work over the past twelve months across key priorities, including reducing the inequity of outcomes for black and ethnic minority women and birthing people and their babies. MNSI is also prioritising improving communication between mothers, birthing people and maternity services, and exploring how to improve the impact of information it holds on thematic learning.
Responding to the report, Dr Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said:
“It’s positive that MNSI is continuing to focus on understanding and improving health inequalities in maternity care. Everyone accessing maternity services in this country has a right to receive high quality, personalised care whatever their ethnicity, health profile or socioeconomic background. Supporting improving maternity services is a College priority and we are committed to using MNSI programme learnings in our work.
“Cases of potential severe brain injury continued to be the significant majority of referrals to MSNI in 2023/24. This reinforces the important need for the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) programme, which the RCOG are delivering with the Royal College of Midwives and The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute. This programme aims to support maternity services to improve and personalise care in labour, and to reduce the risks of two significant contributors to avoidable brain injury.
“The MSNI report also highlights opportunities to drive improvement in maternity telephone triage. The RCOG developed our Maternity Triage Good Practice Paper to support local maternity services to offer responsive, safe and evidence-based care through their units. It provides advice on how to deploy NHS resources most effectively and potential additional requirements.”
The full MNSI report can be viewed here.