MNSI is an acronym or shortened name for the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Special Health Authority.
MNSI is the new Special Health Authority which is taking over investigations into patient safety incidents which have occurred during maternity or neonatal (newborn) care. MNSI will continue the work of HSIB’s maternity investigations programme which investigates maternity safety incidents which have caused harm to mothers and babies, including:
- intrapartum stillbirth – where the unborn baby was alive at the start of labour;
- early neonatal death – death of a newborn baby;
- severe brain injury to the baby, such as hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy or HIE, which is diagnosed in the first week of life;
- maternal death – where the mother’s death is related to pregnancy or birth.
The Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Special Health Authority or MNSI has been formed to take over HSIB’s maternity investigations programme when HSIB changes status to become the Health Services Safety Investigations Body or HSSIB. The Health and Care Act 2022 did not provide for maternity investigations to be carried out by HSSIB. This is because the new HSSIB will have new powers to investigate most types of patient safety incidents under ‘safe space’, but this process is not appropriate for investigations into intrapartum stillbirth, early neonatal death, babies with severe brain injury diagnosed in the first week of life, or pregnancy-related deaths of mothers (known as maternal deaths).
Instead, in January 2022 the government announced that a new Special Health Authority would be established for up to five years to continue the work of HSIB’s maternity investigations programme. In August 2022 HSIB announced that the new Special Health Authority created to carry out maternity investigations had been named the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Special Health Authority or MNSI.
The government suggested that MNSI’s aim will be to achieve maximum learning from maternity safety incidents by:
- providing independent, standardised, investigations of maternity cases that provide answers to families about why their loved ones died or were seriously injured;
- preparing reports to help all levels of the healthcare system learn to improve clinical and safety practices in trusts to prevent similar incidents and deaths occurring;
- analysing data gathered from investigations to identify trends and provide system-wide learning, including identifying improvement or lack of improvement;
- becoming a system expert in standards for maternity investigations and supporting trusts to improve their own investigations;
- working with other organisations within the healthcare system to escalate safety concerns and share their knowledge.
HSIB has also suggested that part of MNSI’s role will be to provide NHS trusts with the expertise, skills and resources to carry out their own maternity safety incident investigations in future.
MNSI is expected to take over HSIB’s maternity investigations from October 2023.
If you have been contacted by MNSI, HSIB, HSSIB or NHS Resolution after the birth of your child or in relation to the mother’s maternity care, we strongly advise you call us immediately on +44(0) 118 952 7201 for free, confidential, specialist advice before you respond. Your child or your family may be entitled to substantial compensation.