Research and Quality Improvement

We recognise the importance of high quality research to promote the best evidence based care for our babies. As such, we are a research active unit and participate in many international, multi-centre research trials. We have just finished recruiting to two large trials and plan to join more in the near future.

If your baby is eligible for a study, you may be approached by a member of our team to discuss possible participation in a trial. Please note that this is completely optional, and there is no obligation to participate. If you do choose to participate, you will be helping hugely, and play a very important role in helping to advance neonatal care.

As a service, we are actively involved in Quality Improvement (QI). This allows us to assess and improve the care we provide to our babies, promote patient safety and create a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

The PRM and all Glasgow neonatal units align our QI activity with The Scottish Patient Safety Programme Perinatal Programme (SPSP Perinatal). We have a number of QI initiatives underway across our units. Our preterm bundle, a QI project introduced to improve the number of preterm babies being fully optimised with a package of care that improve survival and reduce complications of prematurity, was awarded with a Scottish Government Quality Improvement Award in 2021, as well as shortlisted for British Association of Perinatal Medicine Project of the Year.

A number of other QI projects are underway. Our current priorities include improving outcomes for preterm babies, reducing unexpected admissions of term babies, and improving perinatal team working and culture in order to optimise care and outcomes for pregnant women, babies and their families.

We take part in the National Neonatal Audit Programme, which plays a vital part in allowing us to clearly identify the quality of care we provide and the outcomes of our babies. The National Neonatal Audit Programme (NNAP) is a UK wide audit programme that helps neonatal units to improve the care they provide to babies who need specialist treatment. This includes infants who are born prematurely, or with medical conditions requiring specialist treatment. We use information about your baby’s care to help neonatal units throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK to improve the care and outcomes for other babies.