Twins Trust

Evaluating the implementation of NICE guidelines in maternity units

Fiveways supported Twins Trust (formerly Tamba) to evaluate their Maternity Engagement Project which worked with 30 maternity units in England over three years, aiming to improve care for families of twins, triplets and more. Our work included:

  • Reviewing the implementation of the project and its method of measurement.
  • Identifying good practice, potential improvements, key recommendations, and lessons learned to support the development of the approach.
  • Providing statistical analysis of the project’s outcomes comparing the baseline and follow up data provided by the maternity units (in partnership with Select Statistics Ltd).
  • Identifying outcomes generated by the project in addition to those relating to NICE adherence and patient outcomes.
  • Generating insight from 55 professionals working in the participating units and 7 key stakeholders via online surveys and in-depth interviews.
  • Interpreting feedback from parents given in a patient satisfaction survey.

Our evaluation revealed that successful implementation of NICE guidance improved outcomes and if all maternity units in England were able to follow the results of the units involved in the project, within a year:

  • Neonatal admissions in multiples could be reduced by 1,308
  • Emergency c-sections could be reduced by 634
  • The NHS would save £8 million.

Our evaluation demonstrated the success of the Twins Trust’s intervention and subsequently NICE guidance has been updated to provide clear advice on the care women with multiple pregnancies should receive from the onset of labour until delivery has taken place.

Our report can be found here https://twinstrust.org/uploads/assets/afcc44b3-776e-4341-8a16e9bd990c3425/NICE-works-final-report.pdf

“Fiveways understood the constraints that small charities operate under and were very accommodating of the challenges that this can produce.  They delivered a quality report that was exactly what we needed, in the required timescale. Richard was so easy to work with, from his calm personal style through to his ability to quickly understand the very specific and complex subject matter of the project. He was very flexible when we changed requirements and was happy to offer alternative suggestions to make the final report even more impactful. I would recommend Fiveways to other charities looking for research and evaluation expertise.” – Jane Gorringe, Maternity Engagment Project Manager, Twins Trust