Putting patient safety at the heart of care

Poor workplace culture in maternity and neonatal services has been repeatedly linked to avoidable harm. When staff do not feel able to speak up, challenge decisions or escalate concerns, risks to mothers and babies can be missed. 

This year we worked with midwives, neonatal nurses and frontline teams to develop a suite of simple, microlearning resources, including 24 videos and practical worksheets that could be easily embedded into daily huddles, handovers, debriefs and incident learning processes. The materials focus on themes such as how to speak up, escalate concerns and provide feedback to colleagues.

The programme aligns closely with national patient safety priorities, including the Ockenden Review, Kirkup Reports, NHS Patient Safety Strategy and MatNeoSIP. 

Since launch, the resources have driven improvements in confidence, communication and teamwork. Teams report increased willingness to speak up, clearer shared expectations, stronger psychological safety, and more structured reflection following incidents.

The initiative has spread into multiple Integrated Care Systems and wider NHS services, becoming a cross-system cultural resource embedded into everyday workflows such as huddles and governance processes. 

This work has been shortlisted for the ‘Developing a Positive Safety Culture Award’ in the 2026 HSJ Patient Safety Awards.