Barriers to attendance at a tertiary hospital’s perinatal mortality meeting

Background: Perinatal mortality multi-disciplinary team meetings (PM-MDTMs) offer a forum for multi-disciplinary discussion of poor perinatal outcomes. They ensure a thorough understanding of individual cases and present an important learning opportunity for healthcare professionals (HCPs). Attendance at PM-MDTMs in this tertiary maternity hospital has been low. Aims: We aimed to identify barriers which may be targeted to improve attendance and engagement. Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was developed, and all HCPs invited to participate. Demographic data on respondents was collected, as was knowledge of PM-MDTMs, their purpose and relevance to clinical practice, and barriers to attendance at meetings. A total of 78 responses were obtained and analysed. Results: Self-reported understanding of the purpose and format PM-MDTMs was high (84.6% (66/78) and 65.4% (51/78), respectively), while only 50% (39/78) of respondents provided an accurate description of either. Only 50% (39/78) reported having attended a meeting in the hospital, of whom 61.5% (24/39) described the correct meeting. Of these, 37.5% (9/24) reported attending regularly and 70.8% (17/24) found the meeting relevant to their clinical practice. Of the 33.33% (26/78) who reported attending a PM-MDTM in another hospital, 73.1% (19/26) accurately described the meeting, 63.1% (12/19) of these attended regularly, and 100% (19/19) found it relevant. Three main qualitative themes emerged as barriers to attendance and were areas for suggested improvements: workload and staffing levels, meeting logistics, and lack of communication and education regarding PM-MDTMs. Conclusions: Communication regarding PM-MDTMs and their learning opportunities needs to improve. Lack of engagement is likely compounded by high workloads and staffing levels, but these issues should be surmountable.