Infant Journal
for neonatal and paediatric healthcare professionals

Healthcare professionals’ views to inform revision of the NEWTT tool

Early identification of clinical deterioration provides an opportunity for timely intervention that may prevent irreversible harm and death in newborn infants. Early warning scores, such as the British Association of Perinatal Medicine Newborn Early Warning Trigger and Track (BAPM NEWTT), are used for this purpose. We set out to gather opinions of UK healthcare professionals to inform a review of the BAPM NEWTT guidance and identify features that may require modification.

Shalini Ojha
Consultant Neonatologist, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, and Clinical Associate Professor, University of Nottingham
shalini.ojha@nottingham.ac.uk

Kathryn Macallister
Neonatal GRID Trainee, BAPM Trainee EC Representative, Co-Chair NEWTT2 working group

Sara Abdula
Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London

John Madar
Consultant Neonatologist, Neonatal Unit, University Hospitals Plymouth

Oliver Rackham
Consultant Neonatologist, Glan Clwyd Hospital, Rhyl, Wales

Wendy Tyler
Consultant Neonatologist, BAPM Honorary Treasurer, Chair NEWTT2 working group

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Keywords
early warning score; newborn early warning trigger and track (NEWTT)
Key points
  1. Neonatal early warning scores are used to identify impending deterioration in at risk newborn infants.
  2. Users of the BAPM NEWTT tool mostly agree with current recommendations.
  3. Incorporating the views of healthcare professionals who made suggestions for change may improve the acceptability of the revised tool and permit universal implementation.

Also published in Infant:

VOLUME 12/ISSUE 6, NOVEMBER 2016
Identifying and managing clinical risks in newborn babies
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) review looks at the quality and variability of current care across the NHS, with the aim of identifying any gaps that need to be addressed as well as any opportunities for improvement.

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