Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) webinar 28 June, 2023 - Fetal Safety Education Week
26 June 2023
The NSW Health Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) Expert Advisory Group (EAG) was established in March 2021 at the request of the Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC). The Group was tasked to review the clinical management of HIE, when a statewide recommendation was made following the review of several HIE incidents.
It was identified that this work would also support the updating of the NSW Health Policy Directive, Whole Body Cooling - Neonates Suspected Moderate or Severe Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) being undertaken by the Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI).
The HIE EAG was chaired by an experienced Neonatologist, Dr Jenny Bowen. HIE EAG members consisted of senior medical, nursing and midwifery clinicians with expertise in maternity, neonatal and paediatric care from New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. This collaborative approach also included members from the CEC, ACI and Ministry of Health.
The goal was to help standardise the definition, clinical assessment, monitoring and reporting of neonates with newborn encephalopathy. An additional aim was to identify opportunities for improvement that could reduce unwarranted clinical variation across NSW.
The CEC led phase 1 of the review and decision-making process. This phase determined the framework for the recognition, monitoring and reporting of newborn HIE. This is now outlined in the CEC’s NSW Consensus Statement: Newborn Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE).
Following impacts and delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, phase 2 commenced in 2022 and was led by the ACI. This phase focused on the development of a Clinical Practice Guide (CPG) to support clinical care across NSW and is now complete with the CPG available on the ACI website.
The ACI Clinical Practice Guide, Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy in newborns – recognition, monitoring and early management, provides guidance on the:
- general principles of management of newborns at risk of HIE
- clinical management of newborns with HIE
- care of the family
- reporting processes.
The CEC extend our gratitude to the HIE EAG Chair Dr Jenny Bowen, and all the expert clinicians involved in both phase 1 and 2. Dr Bowen will be leading a webinar session on HIE, with members from the ACI and CEC teams involved as part of the upcoming Fetal Safety Education Week on 28 June 2023.
To register for this webinar please click here.
For more information on the CEC NSW Consensus Statement and ACI Clinical Practice Guide please see the below links.