Shropshire hospitals trust develop programme to help those tending unwell newborns in community settings
The trust running Shropshire’s two main hospitals has helped to develop a programme to support maternity and emergency teams treating unwell newborn babies in community settings.
By completing the e-learning programme healthcare professionals will be able to recognise normal and abnormal infant colour, feeding patterns and abdominal signs.
They can also identify techniques to support an infant born unexpectedly preterm and support a baby born in an unexpectedly poor condition.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has developed the programme in partnership with Health Education England’s e-Learning for Healthcare (HEE e-LfH) and The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The Midwifery Identification, Stabilisation and Transfer of the Sick Newborn (MIST) programme is aimed at midwifery and ambulance workers.
The resources are designed to equip maternity and emergency teams with the knowledge required to extend care beyond the first minutes after birth, up to and including handover to the neonatal team.
The programme was made possible after SaTH, which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, were given funding.
made a successful bid for funding from Health Education England.
Wendy Tyler, consultant neonatologist at SaTH and project lead for MIST, said: “We are delighted to have been able to develop this important e-learning programme using our local MIST practical course materials, with support from HEE and our colleagues in Newcastle.
“The e-learning has been written by a multidisciplinary team from SaTH with myself and Dr Alan Fenton from Newcastle, a consultant neonatologist with experience in out-of-hospital care.
“The money we successfully bid for could have been used for learning that only benefitted SaTH, but we wanted to develop a nationally-available programme which would have a wider-reaching impact.
“Simply put, paramedics, midwives and maternity support workers can access this programme and use it to identify simple techniques which could save a baby’s life.”
For more information about the programme, visit e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/midwifery-identification-stabilisation-and-transfer-of-the-sick-newborn
