Case studies
Supporting safer care for pregnant and postnatal women at UCLH
September 4, 2026
UCLPartners is working with University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to support the roll out of the updated Maternity Early Warning Score (MEWS). The work is helping teams across the hospital recognise and respond to concerns earlier, so pregnant and recently pregnant women receive safer, more joined-up care wherever they present.
Below summarises what we did – read the full case study.
Background
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is preparing to roll out the updated Maternity Early Warning Score (MEWS) across the Trust.
MEWS helps teams spot and escalate concerns early for pregnant and recently pregnant women.
Planning showed that some women at highest risk may access care outside maternity services, including emergency departments, acute medicine, surgery and community care. UCLH needed a whole-hospital approach so these women are recognised and supported wherever they present.
We worked with Barts as part of our patient safety commission by NHS England to deliver patient safety support to health and care providers within the area.
What we did
Working with UCLPartners, UCLH treated MEWS implementation as a Trust-wide patient safety priority.
The programme brought together maternity, emergency and acute care, gynaecology, digital, education, governance and executive teams to build shared processes and understanding.
A multidisciplinary hazard workshop tested workflows and identified risks before launch. UCLH also strengthened the electronic patient record with prompts for pregnancy status, escalation pathways and additional concern criteria. Education, scenario-based learning and governance processes are supporting consistent adoption across teams.
As well as providing implementation advice, UCLPartners supported conversation between UCLH and NHS England to troubleshoot and resolve questions early for a smoother roll out.
Impact
The programme has strengthened collaboration across departments and created clearer pathways for spotting and escalating concerns in pregnant and postnatal women.
By combining digital safeguards, strong governance and shared responsibility across services, UCLH is building a safer, more joined-up approach to care across the hospital.
UCLPartners is disseminating UCLH’s learning to other units across the country, as well as facilitating one-to-one conversations with local units needing support in our footprint.
This work aims to reduce the risk of deterioration being missed and support safer outcomes for women and babies.