To mark World Patient Safety Day 2025, this special episode of Voices for Safety explores the how NIHR-funded research is helping improve care for pre-term babies through the PremPath study. The conversation highlights the optimisation pathway, ethnographic insights into neonatal care, and the challenges of coordination, communication, and equity. It also shares practical recommendations to improve care experiences for families and staff, emphasising the emotional and relational aspects of patient safety.

Our host Dr Louise Gorman is joined by:

• Prof Nicola Mackintosh, Professor in Social Science applied to Health at the University of Leicester and research co-lead at the NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (GM PSRC), and
• Dr Julie Roberts – Research Fellow at the SAPPHIRE group (Social science, APPlied Healthcare and Improvement Research), University of Leicester.

This study/project is funded by the NIHR Policy Research Programme (NIHR204242). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.