Mersey Care and Merseyside Police aim to reduce sudden, unexpected deaths of infants

Liverpool’s Health Visitors have joined forces with Merseyside Police in a pioneering initiative to reduce the number of sudden, unexpected deaths of infants (SUDI) across the city.

As part of this initiative, Merseyside Police officers will be updated in best practice for identifying unsafe sleep practices and reiterating safer sleep advice, provided by the Health Visitor team.

The three-month pilot programme which begins in Liverpool on 3 July 2023, came about after Constable Craig Walsh from Merseyside Police, approached the Health Visiting team run by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, who work with children and families in Liverpool and Sefton during the antenatal period up to five years.

Constable Walsh has subsequently developed an app which will enable officers to notify the Health Visiting Team directly, when they identify unsafe sleep practices. This process will allow Health Visitors to clinically assess if further advice or support for parents/carers is required.

The two organisations will work closely together after instances of sudden unexpected deaths of children under the age of one, with risk factors, have increased from 46.4 percent in 2019/20 to 68.2 percent in 2020/2021. The overall sudden unexpected death figures for Liverpool have also more than doubled between 2019 and 2022.

Lisa Marshall, Mersey Care’s Operational Manager for Children and Young People (0-5), explained: “A sudden and unexpected death of an infant, which we used to refer to as a cot death, is an extremely tragic and traumatic experience for any family.

"Health Visitors routinely give safe sleep advice and complete safe sleep risk assessments at our antenatal, new birth and follow up contacts to try and prevent them from happening. There will be times, though, when families are in crisis and messages can be forgotten.

“Merseyside Police will often come across these situations and so for them to be able to give reminders to families of the importance of safe sleep is vital. They’ll then inform the health visitor so they can review and make a clinical decision whether to contact the family to offer additional support. “

Professor Matthew Ashton, Director of Public Health for Liverpool City Council said: “This is an amazing example of the partnership work underway across the city to help support local families. By promoting safe sleep and improving communication, we can use every opportunity to educate, inform and support local families and build the ability and confidence of local services to promote positive health for all.”

Constable Craig Walsh, Prevention, Merseyside Police said: “This initiative gives us an opportunity to engage with families and provide them with help and advice from the experts. Key safeguarding messages regarding safer sleep will always be delivered by NHS midwives and Health Visitors. However, Merseyside Police have a part to play by recognising the practical signs of unsafe sleep habits and getting the right support to families.

“We have developed a new app to allow frontline officers to notify NHS Mersey Care instantly, providing a faster response. Our officers will also take part in training to highlight the factors that can contribute to sudden unexpected deaths that can affect families across the city.

“We want to support parents and carers in what can be a very tiring and stressful time in their lives. By identifying small but important changes and providing the right advice and support we can hopefully reduce the risk of harm for those families we come into contact with.”

Superintendent Martin Earl, Prevention, Merseyside Police said: “This initiative is a great example of the preventative work that we carry out every day. Working in partnership with Mersey Care we will be able to support families and prevent them experiencing the heartache of losing a child.”

If the pilot programme is successful, the plan is to extend the service across Merseyside over the next 12 months.