Sands and partners working on the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) for pregnancy and baby loss have announced that the pioneering project will be extended to a further 21 sites across England from April 2018.
The Pathway seeks to improve the overall quality of bereavement care and end the postcode lottery facing parents and families whose baby has died before, during or shortly after birth.
The new sites bring the total number of NHS Trusts taking part in the Pathway to 32 – almost tripling the reach of the existing pilot.
Clea Harmer, Chief Executive of Sands and Chair of the NBCP Core Group, said: “Pregnancy and baby loss affects thousands of families each year across the UK, so I am delighted that we have so many NHS Trusts enthusiastically supporting the development of the National Bereavement Care Pathway.
“It is vital to offer consistently excellent bereavement care and support to anyone who has lost a child or pregnancy, and that’s why we are testing the effectiveness of the Pathway in such a wide range of settings; from Health Visiting to GP surgeries, from Neonatal Wards to Paediatric Pathology and from Midwifery to Gynaecology.
“I and everyone on the National Bereavement Care Pathway Core Group are very grateful to all those involved in its development, which will make a difference to so many families.”
The new sites will be working with the project team to understand the impact of the Pathway and its effectiveness in improving bereavement care for parents. The sites have been chosen as they are representative of geography, capacity and specialism and will begin to pilot the pathway from April 2018.
Five experiences of pregnancy or baby loss are included in the Pathway including miscarriage, termination of pregnancy for foetal anomaly, stillbirth, neonatal death and the sudden unexpected death of an infant up to 12 months.
For further information visit our NBCP information page
Notes to editors:
- The 21 new NBCP sites are:
- Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Hospital,
- Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (Oldham Hospital)
- Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust
- University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (Health Visiting Team)
- County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
- The Newcastle on Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (based at Scunthorpe General)
- Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Coventry &Warwickshire NHS Trust
- Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
- North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
- The 11 existing NBCP sites are: Wirral University Teaching Hospital, Liverpool Women’s Hospital Trust, York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, Hull & East Yorkshire NHS Trust, Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust (Barnstaple Hospital), Medway (Maritime) NHS Foundation Trust, West Middlesex, Chelsea & Westminster, Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Trust - Queens Hospital, Romford, Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust.
- The National Bereavement Care Pathway is being led by: Sands (Stillbirth and neonatal death charity), Bliss, The Lullaby Trust, The Miscarriage Association, ARC (Antenatal Results & Choices), Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of General Practitioners, Neonatal Nurses Association, Institute of Health Visiting, NHS England, Representative of the UK health research community.
