Richard PriceWest Midlands

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Nurses Ashleigh Hall and Kirstie Orr, holding a trophy which forms the letters N and T. The pair are wearing their navy blue nursing scrubs and are standing in a hospital corridor which has colourful cartoon animals drawings painted on the wall.Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Nurses Ashleigh Hall and Kirstie Orr are leading the hospital’s safer sleep project

Nurses at a hospital’s emergency department have won a national award for their work to reduce the risk of sudden infant death.

The team at Leighton Hospital won the Critical and Emergency Care Nursing award at the 2025 Nursing Times Awards following the success of a project that delivers safer sleep education to families while their children are in A&E.

Bosses at the hospital in Crewe, Cheshire, said staff were praised for their compassionate, non-judgemental and collaborative approach.

The initiative was launched in 2024 and has delivered advice to more than 800 parents and carers.

“With strong potential for replication in other organisations across the UK, this project empowers families and healthcare teams alike, reducing harm and the risk of sudden infant death,” the award citation said.

The advice includes:

Always place your baby on their back to sleepKeep your baby, or any baby you’re caring for, in the same room as you when they’re sleeping until they’re at least six months oldKeep your baby’s head uncovered – tuck your baby’s blanket under their arms so the blanket cannot move and cover their headIf wearing your baby in a sling or carrier, make sure you use it safelyPlace your baby in the ‘feet to foot’ position, with their feet touching the end of the cot or Moses basketDo not let your baby get too hot or coldNever sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchairDo not co-sleep with your baby if you (or anyone in the bed) smokes, has drunk alcohol or taken drugs or medicine that make you feel drowsyDo not smoke when you’re pregnant or around your baby after they’re born, and do not let anyone smoke in the same room as your babyMid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust An ambulance is parked outside a modern-looking two-storey building with a glass canopy on the side of it. The ambulance's back doors are open.Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The safe sleeping project was an initative by emergency department staff at Leighton Hospital in Crewe

The project was led by emergency department paediatric nurses Ashleigh Hall and Kirstie Orr.

“Safer sleep advice is hugely important and being able to offer that guidance face-to-face, while families are already with us in the emergency department means we can make a real difference,” Ms Hall said.

Ms Orr added: “As a team, we want to deliver those messages in the most beneficial ways possible because ultimately this can help to prevent avoidable tragedies.”

More information on safer sleep advice can be found on the NHS website.