SIPs aim to support and encourage a culture of safety, continuous learning, and improvement across the health and care system, helping to reduce the risk of harm and make care safer for all. They support five core areas of work – maternity and neonatal, mental health, managing deterioration, medicine safety and system safety. 

During 2023/24 our work included: 

Maternity and Neonatal: Supporting the testing, pilot and implementation of the BAPM (British Association of Perinatal Medicine( Newborn Early Warning Trigger and Track 2 escalation toolkits (NEWTT2) to reduce variation, increase standardisation and improve outcomes for neonatal care. Also, we continued to co-lead the Perinatal Equity Network which champions initiatives and projects that aim to address disparities in perinatal health outcomes. 

Mental Health: Working as part of a Mental Health Collaborative of 5 Health Innovation Networks and 16 NHS Trusts, we supported mental health providers to develop a safety and learning culture, build Quality Improvement capability and test ideas to reduce restrictive practices. 

Medicine Safety: Supporting the implementation of pilot Pain Cafés in Plymouth, facilitating community involvement for those experiencing persistent pain by helping them to self-manage pain and reduce opioid prescribing. We provided programme management support and evaluation and learning assistance. 

System Safety: The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) is an initiative which aims to improve understanding of safety through insights garnered from patient safety incidents, transforming the approach to reviewing and enhancing patient safety. We focused on working in partnership with various stakeholders, as well as the NHS England PSIRF implementation team, to support implementation and transition to PSIRF regionally.