Patient Safety Improvement
Supporting the largest safety improvement initiative in the history of the NHS
in 2025-26
Martha’s Rule now implemented in five acute trusts across South West
Identified gaps in service provision for reducing harm from psychotropics for people with learning disabilities
South West is only region in England to achieve target reduction in neonatal deaths to 1 in 1,000, helped by PERIPrem
The programme
NHS England’s National Patient Safety Improvement Programmes (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.
The SIPs are delivered by the South West Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC) hosted by Health Innovation South West.
They support four core areas of work:
The Health Innovation Network is commissioned by NHS England to host the 15 Patient Safety Collaboratives across England via local health innovation networks – including Health Innovation South West. Our role is to support NHS organisations to adopt safety interventions and strategies, aligned with the National Patient Safety Plan.
Our impact in 2025-26
Our work is fostering a culture of learning, collaboration and continuous improvement, enhancing patient safety across the system.
Managing deterioration: Martha’s Rule
Martha’s Rule is a major patient safety initiative encompassing the importance of timely escalation and intervention, currently being tested and implemented in five acute trusts in the South West.
Implementation is being supported by our South West Patient Safety Collaborative with tailored QI coaching and regional learning sessions.
Read about our 2025-26 impact.
Maternity and neonatal
Managing deterioration in women and babies
We are supporting national implementation of the new standardised Maternity Early Warning Score (MEWS) in the South West, alongside the implementation of Newborn Early Warning Trigger and Track 2 escalation toolkits (NEWTT2).
Read about our work supporting MEWS and NEWTT2 implementation in 2025-26.
Optimising and stabilisation of preterm infants: PERIPrem
We are continuing to support the national spread and adoption of PERIPrem (Perinatal Excellence to Reduce Injury in Premature Birth), transforming the lives of vulnerable babies and accelerate perinatal working culture across England and Wales.
Learn more about our impact in 2025-26.
Medicines safety
In 2025-26, the Medicines Safety Improvement Programme focused on reducing harm from psychotropics used to manage behaviour that challenges in people with a learning disability, and on establishing personalised, non-pharmacological support tailored to individual needs. Read about our impact.
In 2024-25, the Medicines SIP supported a whole-system approach across the South West to reduce harm from opioids for non-cancer patients. 20 pain cafes are now running across Cornwall, with many others running across the South West, improving pain management for hundreds of people across the region. We shared learning nationally, influencing uptake of the pain cafe approach.
System safety
Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) initiatives are driving impactful change across the South West system. We are supporting systems to create optimal conditions for patient safety and quality improvement by facilitating the implementation of PSIRF.
The System SIP was put on hold for 2025-26 and is currently focusing on system oversight, which is being managed jointly by Health Innovation East Midlands and Health Innovation West Midlands. Health Innovation South West is currently involved in an evaluation of a PSIRF maturity pilot.
