17 Dec Embedding learning from Baby Lifeline’s Cultural Competency & Safety Workshop at University Hospitals of Leicester

In this guest blog, Dalvir Kandola (Consultant Midwife – Lead for Inclusivity) and Ebony Anderson (Education and Practice Development Lead for Women’s Services) tell us about the impact of our training at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

Earlier this year, members of our senior multi-disciplinary team at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust participated in a Cultural Competency and Safety Workshop delivered by Baby Lifeline Training. In this blog, we are excited to share how we have implemented learning from this training to make a tangible impact on our services.

Creating SMART Goals for sustainable change

Following the training, each staff member was encouraged to create a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goal tailored to their area of expertise. One of the goals focused on reviewing and enhancing the cultural safety content within our mandatory study days for staff within maternity services.

Engaging the multi-disciplinary team

To drive this change, we engaged our multi-disciplinary team responsible for delivering educational updates on mandatory study days. The session began with an overview of cultural safety to establish a shared understanding. This introduction covered:

• Definitions of cultural safety
• Statistics and root causes of disparities in maternity and neonatal outcomes
• The concept of intersectionality
• The wheel of power and privilege framework

We then designed and distributed a worksheet with key considerations to guide the review of existing educational content. As facilitators, we provided support by guiding discussions, offering implementation ideas, and sharing relevant resources for integrating cultural safety education provision.

Outcomes and feedback

The session had a significant impact:

• Increased confidence: a survey revealed a 71.7% increase in participants’ confidence in their knowledge of cultural safety and their ability to embed these principles into education
• Positive feedback: participants described the session as ‘powerful and enjoyable’, emphasising how cultural adaptations can be integrated across all current teaching provision
• Collaborative change: representation from 12 service providers, within and beyond our hospitals, fostered rich discussions about extending cultural safety practices beyond education into broader service delivery.

Conclusion

This initiative has proven to be a unique and effective method of embedding cultural safety into our services. By equipping educators with the tools and confidence to incorporate cultural safety into their teaching, we have created a ripple effect of awareness and action throughout our organisation.

This collaborative approach ensures that cultural safety becomes a ‘golden thread’ woven into every aspect of our maternity services, paving the way for more equitable outcomes.

We are proud of the progress made and look forward to continuing this journey toward culturally safe and responsive care and would recommend the Baby Lifeline Training course to all maternity service providers.

Find out more about the Cultural Competency & Safety Workshop delivered by Baby Lifeline and led by Course Directors Benash Nazmeen and Hannah Thompson.

To find out more about the work on inclusivity at UHL, follow Dalvir Kandola on LinkedIn. To access the worksheet, please contact dalvir.kandola@uhl-tr.nhs.uk.

Authors:

Dalvir Kandola, Consultant Midwife – Lead for Inclusivity at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Ebony Anderson, Education and Practice Development Lead for Women’s Services at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Would you like to tell us about the work you’ve been doing as a result of our training? Drop us an email at training@babylifeline.org.uk – we’d love to hear from you.