PReCePT (PRevention of Cerebral Palsy in Pre Term Labour) is the first perinatal Quality Improvement (QI) programme delivered at scale across England, bringing together midwives, obstetricians and neonatologists in every maternity unit in the country. It aims to reduce incidence of cerebral palsy (CP) in preterm babies.

Commissioned by NHS England, the two-year programme is led by the West of England AHSN on behalf of the AHSN Network.

PReCePT was developed in 2014 by the West of England AHSN with University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, involving both patients and staff. The intervention was adopted by five maternity units, using a QI approach to support uptake. Each unit increased MgSO4 uptake to >85% during the project and sustained these levels. A retrospective audit showed the project had avoided seven cases of preterm CP, representing a lifetime health and social care cost of around £5.6million. PReCePT is now being spread across the country by all 15 AHSNs during 2018–2020.

A suite of standardised QI resources has been developed, available on the AHSN Network website. Taking a network-of-networks approach, each AHSN works with maternity units in their region, supporting them to deliver QI projects to increase MgSO4 uptake, with backfill funding for midwife and regional clinical leads.

We are currently halfway through the PReCePT programme. From available data received so far, administration rates of MgSO4 in participating units is already consistently above 80%.