A recent innovation at our Trust, introducing new dressings for c-section wounds, saw the rates of infections reduce by 45 per cent. This meant less women needed to be readmitted after a c-section, and therefore not separated from their babies.

These new dressings, which aim to prevent infections post-surgery, are more expensive than our previous dressings, however, we’ve seen a saving of around £22 per person thanks to less complications.

Michael Magro (pictured), obstetrics and gynaecology consultant who led the project, said: “I was a bit sceptical to start as it seemed too good to be true, but our data has been really good.

“The most important thing has been improving care for women, and making it safer. Getting an infection after surgery means a visit to a GP, the possibility of antibiotics, and in some cases going to A&E and being readmitted to hospital. No one wants that when they’ve a new baby at home. The cost-saving has been a bonus and it isn’t just saving us money, it saves resources across all local healthcare services.”

The dressings, which work by drawing bacteria away from the wound, provide more benefits for new mums too as they can be left on for five days and are shower-proof.

Michael added: “It’s such a simple innovation, the dressings are applied in the same way, but it has made a big change. It’s also helped improve care across the whole department as reducing readmissions means more beds are available for other women who need them.

“Our next steps are to implement this in our Gynaecology department, to see if there are benefits for these patients too.”