Patient safety for babies and children: key resources

Summary

This page includes a selection of key resources that support patient safety for newborn babies and children. It has been published alongside our own series of blogs of the same theme.

It has been developed as part of our series for World Patient Safety Day 2025, which has the theme of Safe care for every newborn and every child. #Worldpatientsafetyday2025 #WPSD2025

Content

Me first: children and young people centred communication

A tool co-produced with children and young people to help health and social care professionals communicate with children of different ages and abilities. 

Safety portal (Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health)

Explore patient safety theory, learn about the NHS patient safety syllabus, share ideas for quality improvement and access summaries of the latest alerts and reports. Use what you learn to drive improvements in paediatric patient safety. 

WHO: Patient safety from the start! Protecting every child’s health journey

This video, produced by the World Health Organization for World Patient Safety Day 2025, looks at the unique challenges children face in healthcare through the story of six-year old Amiya.

Infection prevention and control (Great Ormond Street Hospital)

This page explains what the Infection Control Team are doing to prevent hospital infections at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and what patients, carers and families can do to help minimise the risk of infections during a child's stay.

Podcast: Involving children, young people and their families in making healthcare safer (RCPCH)

In this episode of the RCPCH podcast series, they speak with Dr Jane Runnacles, consultant paediatrician at St. George's Hospital, and Dr Victoria Dublon, paediatric diabetes consultant at the Royal Free Hospital. Both are champions of improvement work that puts the young person and their needs first.

A parents’ guide to recognising jaundice in Black and Brown babies

This infographic, designed by Dr Helen Gbinigie and Dr Oghenetega Edokpolor, in collaboration with FiveXMore and Bliss, serves as a guide for parents' for recognising jaundice in Black and Brown babies, including where and how to seek help. Download the guide.

Do You Know My Child? Continuity of Nursing Care in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

The objective of this US-based analysis, was to explore the delivery of continuity of nursing care in the PICU from the perspective of both parents and nurses.

The healthiest generation of children ever: A roadmap for the health system (The Children and Young People’s Health Policy Influencing Group)

The report and roadmap set out recommendations for how the health system can put babies, children and young people at the heart of everything it does. 

Maternity and neonatal safety champions toolkit (NHS England)

This toolkit provides information and resources that will help you in your role as a safety champion to develop strong partnerships, promote positive professional cultures, and support the delivery of the safest care possible through best practice.

Child Health Clinical Outcome Review Programme (National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death)

The Child Health programme is one of four Clinical Outcome Review Programmes which are designed to help assess the quality of healthcare, and stimulate improvement in safety and effectiveness by systematically enabling clinicians, managers and policy makers to learn from adverse events and other relevant data. 

Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) 

The Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth (ABC) programme aims to reduce avoidable brain injury in childbirth by improving care. This programme supports maternity teams with evidence-based tools and protocols to ensure consistent, timely, and coordinated care.

Core20PLUS5 – An approach to reducing health inequalities for children and young people (NHS England)

Core20PLUS5 is a national NHS England approach to support the reduction of health inequalities at both national and system level. The approach defines a target population cohort and identifies ‘5’ focus clinical areas requiring accelerated improvement.