Welcome to CMACE

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) recently ran a competitive tendering exercise for the future provision of the National Confidential Enquiries from 1 April 2011. The work previously undertaken by CMACE was split into two programmes of work, maternal, newborn and child health. CMACE was unsuccessful in both tenders. The contract for the maternal and newborn programme was awarded to a consortium led by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) at the University of Oxford and for the child health programme to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).

In late March 2011 CMACE were informed by the NPSA that they had decided to discontinue the procurement process for the maternal and newborn confidential enquiry has to be terminated with immediate effect.  This means that the NPEU will now not be taking over the work formerly undertaken by CMACE, including the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths. Although CMACE offered to continue the work in the short term until a long term solution is found, this was not accepted.  Instead the work will be halted while a review of the way forward for this important work is conducted. The award of the child health contract  to the RCPCH is unaffected by this.  

CMACE considers itself privileged to have had responsibility for this work over the last eight years and would like to thank the many thousands of clinicians, medical, midwifery and nursing, up and down the UK who have given their time voluntarily in assisting us with the work during that time. We will also endeavour to make sure that all the existing reports will continue to be available in electronic format via the RCOG website for clinicians both in the UK and worldwide where the work is so greatly appreciated. The organisation will close in April 2011.

For further information on the future of the confidential enquiry please contact Jenny Mooney at the NPSA on [email protected].