How do people in leadership positions participate in this study?

We will also recruit national programme leads whose roles focus on reviews and investigations.

These individuals have worked, or are currently working, in organisations external to the NHS where they have a governance or leadership role in programme development and implementation, as well as area management of investigations and parent and family inclusion of the review and investigation processes that have been implemented in England since 2018.

National leads that can take part:

• Those who have occupied or currently occupy a senior governance position in the instigation, development, implementation and/or monitoring of the Health Service Investigation Branch Maternity Investigation Programme/Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations Programme.
• Those who have occupied or currently occupy a senior governance position in the instigation, development, implementation and/or monitoring of the Perinatal Mortality Review Tool.
• Those who provide area leadership in the engagement of parents and families, and investigation teams.
• Those able to provide informed consent.
• Those with access to a computer, tablet or mobile phone and with a reliable internet connection.

National leads that cannot take part and why:

• National programme leads who are currently under warning, suspension, remediation or dismissal procedures by their employers or professional bodies. If procedures by employers were ongoing, the reliability or the confidential status of the data might be compromised.
• Those who feel themselves to be too distressed to participate in the study. In this situation, the felt costs of research participation to that individual would outweigh the benefits. It is also possible that participant choice may be breached during times of significant distress.
• Those who feel unable to give informed consent.

What happens if I do not want to participate any more?

If at any point you do not want to participate any more, you can inform the research team of your decision by email (matrep@manchester.ac.uk).

You are free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason and without detriment to yourself.

However, we are unable to remove your interview data from the project after 1 December 2024 (when final data analysis begins).