Today, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) joins healthcare organisations and professionals around the world in recognising World Patient Safety Day (WPSD).
Led by the World Health Organization (WHO), this annual day of awareness shines a spotlight on the importance of safer healthcare. This year, the focus is on one of the most vulnerable groups we care for: newborns and children from birth to nine years old.
The 2025 theme, “Safe care for every newborn and every child: Patient safety from the start!”, calls on us all to strive to ensure that children receive high-quality, safe care from the very beginning of life. As WHO reminds us:
“Every child has the right to safe, quality health care from the very beginning.”
This message resonates with our teams across Morecambe Bay and reflects the very heart of what we do.
WHO’s Core Campaign Messages
- Children are not small adults. They require specialised, tailored, and safe care.
- Safety must come first. Always, and in every healthcare setting.
- The most common causes of harm are preventable. We all have a role to play in reducing them.
- Safer care depends on safe systems and strong teamwork. Collaboration saves lives.
How We’re Supporting Safer Care at Morecambe Bay
Avoiding Term Admissions into Neonatal Units (ATAIN)
At UHMBT, we are proud to have a fully established ATAIN team. This group brings together expertise from Obstetrics, Paediatrics, Midwifery, and Neonatal Nursing to reduce avoidable admissions of full-term babies into neonatal units.
The team meets regularly to review real cases, identify learning opportunities, and make improvements in care. One of their recent projects focuses on reducing hypothermia and hypoglycaemia in newborns. These are two of the most common and preventable reasons for neonatal admission. The learning from this work has already been shared across our Local Maternity and Neonatal System and is now being spread more widely to support system-wide improvement.
Preterm Optimisation Group (POG)
Our Preterm Optimisation Group continues to lead essential work to support babies born too soon. This group also takes a multidisciplinary approach and is currently working on three key improvement priorities:
- Delayed cord clamping. This supports smoother neonatal transition and improved health outcomes.
- Early maternal breast milk. Encouraging the timely provision of these “golden drops” helps preterm babies get the best start.
- Antenatal optimisation. This ensures that mothers at risk of preterm labour consistently receive evidence-based care.
These projects highlight the commitment of our dedicated staff i. supporting evidence-led practice, collaboration, and safer outcomes.
Introducing NEWTT: Newborn Early Warning Trigger and Track
From the end of September, we are proud to be launching the NEWTT observation tool. This is an important development that will strengthen how we monitor and escalate care for newborns.
The tool includes Martha’s Rule, which gives parents and families a stronger voice in raising concerns. As part of each observation, parents will be invited to answer a few simple questions. Their responses will form part of the overall assessment and help guide timely escalation to paediatricians if needed.
This new tool supports more responsive, family-centred care and ensures parents are actively involved in recognising and responding to signs of deterioration.
Thank You to Our Staff
On this World Patient Safety Day, we want to express our heartfelt thanks to all staff across UHMBT - the projects above are just a small slice of good work happening across the organisation to support safer care. This hard work and commitment make a real difference.
Key Messages
- Safe care starts at birth and continues every day after.
- Listening to families helps us provide better care.
- Working together makes us stronger.
- Safe systems support better outcomes for everyone.
Let’s continue to learn and put safety at the heart of all we do.
As part of making today, we’ll be sharing key message throughout the day on social media and we will be lighting buildings across the trust in orange - the official World Patient Safety Day colours.
Happy World Patient Safety Day and thank you for all you do to support safer care.