NHS Resolution’s maternity incentive scheme is designed, together with experts across the system to drive greater adherence to actions designed by them to improve maternity safety. The scheme has seen significant improvement in compliance with those actions.
The maternity incentive scheme brings together key partners from across the maternity system with a shared interest in supporting positive change – including the national maternity safety champions, the Department for Health and Social Care, NHS Digital, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Midwives, Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries (MBRRACE), Royal College of Anaesthetists, and the Care Quality Commission – and provides trusts with a strong financial incentive to meet the ten safety actions (with year-on-year stretch). The scheme supports the delivery of safer maternity care by using the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts pricing lever to reward trusts who deliver against ten maternity safety actions designed by these expert partners. The maternity incentive scheme also supports our work on Early Notification to ensure that, in specific cases, the right support is available closer to the time of the incident providing improved outcomes for affected patients and their families and well as identifying learning that can be shared at a national, regional and local level.
Trust submissions through the maternity incentive scheme are required to be signed off by the trust chief executive and the trust board prior to submission to NHS Resolution. Additionally, submissions are discussed prior to sign off by the trust with the trust commissioner. Trust submissions are also subject to a range of external verification points, these include cross checking with: MBRRACE-UK data, NHS Digital and the National Neonatal Research Database. The rules also state that if subsequent verification checks demonstrate that an incorrect declaration has been made, this may indicate failure in governance which we may escalate to the appropriate arm’s length body/NHS system leader.
The year two results for all NHS trusts will be published on our website in the New Year.
