The Luton and Dunstable unit has supported the co-production of our FICare standards and FICare training, as well as trialling several aspects of FICare to see how it can be best implemented in the UK health system.
Below is a testimonial from the unit as to why they are engaging with us on this project.
"Following our Gold Accreditation with Bliss in November 2021, we as a unit at Luton & Dunstable University Hospital see Family Integrated Care (FICare) as an extension of Family Centered Care.
We also know that it is a priority for services to work towards Family Integrated Care, with clear recommendations coming from the Neonatal Critical Care Review (NCCR) 2019, meeting the aims and requirements from the NHS Long Term Plan (2019) with the support and encouragement from Getting It Right First Time Neonatology National Report (2002) BAPM framework (2021) and Baby Friendly Initiative standards.
“In order to co-produce this framework, our steering group at Luton includes a dedicated Family Integrated Care Co-ordinator, staff and veteran parents who are working closely with Bliss, a development and Parent Advisory group to pilot the implementation of FICare on our unit.
“As our unit pursues to deliver FICare, we needed to determine what staff and families knew about FICare and how they viewed their role in delivering Family Integrated Care within NICU. We performed an anonymous survey for both staff and families on their understanding of FICare within NICU. This helped us recognise how FICare may be delivered.
"We are testing approaches and learning from these continually and either implement, adapt or abandon. We are gaining further understanding as to how FICare can tackle health inequalities and ensure outcomes are more equitable for babies and families within our unit.
“Subsequent to our survey, Family Integrated Care training for all nursing/medical staff will be beginning in February 2023 covering topics such as:
- Benefits of FICare
- Health inequalities
- Verbal & non-verbal communication,
- Building relationships and culture to name a few.
We are passionate and driven to collaborate with Bliss to produce a FICare framework to use nationally, as our ultimate goal is to achieve FICare with every family, work in partnership and reduce health inequality gaps."
