Overview
- The online Maternity Outcomes Signal System runs seven days a week, analysing routine ward data to flag unusual patterns in near real time.
- Alerts are traffic-light coded—amber at 95% confidence and red at 99%—and require a critical safety check within eight working days with actions reported to regional and national teams.
- Signals are visible from ward to trust, ICB, regional and national levels, and hospital executives have been told to discuss them at public board meetings.
- NHS England says retrospective testing indicates the tool would have signalled problems at units later linked to serious incidents, including East Kent, Shrewsbury & Telford, Leeds and Nottingham.
- A pilot at Cambridge University Hospitals reported faster responses and stronger senior engagement, and the rollout is being paired with a rapid national investigation and a new maternity and neonatal taskforce.