NEW REPORT: The ‘So What’ of Maternity Data
Published: 30 Aug 2022
A new report from HQIP calls for improvements to better enable front line staff within maternity care services to facilitate quality improvement. The ‘So What’ of Maternity Data, which is based on data from more than 100 people working in a variety of roles in Maternity Services across the UK, aims to explore what national maternity data is being reviewed and it how it might influence quality improvement, as well as the burden of data.
The report found that the datasets that were most likely to be identified as influencing change are those which review maternal and neonatal mortality, namely those produced by MBRRACE-UK and HSIB reports. Other key findings include:
- Recommendations were commonly identified as the most useful thing within reports, particularly by clinical staff
- Resource and time constraints for quality improvements were commonly cited as barriers, but
- More than 85% of respondents felt that at least one dataset was influencing quality improvement.
The report goes on to make a number of recommendations, including a call for central bodies to develop a single website that signposts to all national maternity reports and datasets, and contains up-to-date guidance on all mandatory reporting requirements.
Find out more: Read the full report and recommendations here.