PReCePT study informs new Quality Improvement innovation toolkit

A new Quality Improvement (QI) innovation toolkit (PDF) has been produced for clinical teams implementing change across the health service. The toolkit was informed by the learning from the PReCePT study, a research trial in 40 maternity units across England.

Giving magnesium sulfate to women who are at risk of premature delivery can reduce brain injury, including cerebral palsy. The PReCePT study assessed which is the best QI method of implementation to improve and sustain magnesium sulfate uptake in maternity units. However, the team behind the study believe that what they have learned on this study will be applicable across the health service, not just in maternity units but in other specialties.

The toolkit includes:

• worksheets to help teams approach change projects
• communications and implementation plans
• project snapshot, capsule summary and embedding tools

It outlines steps to success and explains each step in detail.

Karen Luyt, Professor in Neonatal Medicine at the University of Bristol, led the PReCePT study. She said:

“Our QI coaches worked closely with intervention units to implement and improve the use of magnesium sulfate. Though these innovative tools were developed in perinatal care, their use will be applicable to clinical care in general, where close collaboration is essential for ensuring the best patient outcomes.

“We would like to thank the perinatal teams for engaging and working closely with the study team. We hope that clinical teams doing implementation work will find these tools helpful in forging better collaboration. They could also help to get evidence-based interventions into clinical practice as swiftly as possible.”

Noshin Menzies and Vardeep Deogan, the QI coaches working on the PReCePT study and the development of the toolkit, said:

“We are passionate about collaboration and the team dynamic and this toolkit is designed to help build a strong foundation as a team before embarking on change. We wanted to capture the intuitive approach that teams apply when working as part of a multidisciplinary partnership.

“We know that often QI can appear an arduous task. Working with the perinatal teams in PReCePT really inspired us to develop a logical, intuitive and easy to follow step approach to tackling QI. QI is ultimately trial and error and this is best facilitated in a culture where innovation, creativity and intuition can thrive. To do that, we need to build strong multidisciplinary teams that feel psychologically safe to test and push beyond the regular approach to delivering health care.”

• Download the Quality Improvement (QI) innovation toolkit (PDF)