Queen’s Hospital in Burton upon Trent Awarded Gold Bliss Baby Charter Accreditation

The assessment was carried out virtually with Queen’s Hospital neonatal unit on 14 June 2023. The assessment was carried out by Bliss Baby Charter Programme Lead, Giulia Bonacalza, and volunteer assessors, Nicole Broadbent and Nadia Griffin.

The Baby Charter Lead for the unit, Teresa Hurst, said: “As a neonatal nurse at Burton Hospital, I have been involved in working towards gold accreditation for many years. I remember when the 2009 standards were introduced and work towards this began then. I initially joined a team of staff and then became a lead for the charter.

“I have three previous members of staff in particular to thank for the accreditation, Ann Picken, Shelley Harrington and Sarah Robert - Ann for starting the accreditation with myself and Shelley, and Sarah for being passionate about FiCare/developmental care and embedding it into our practice.”

“We have adapted our services to ensure every family is fully involved with their baby/ies and is the centre of that baby's care following through from admission to discharge and post discharge.

“The audit has been fun to work with over the years and I was proud to be part of the team at Burton. We have implemented many positive tools/information boards and folders for families, all well received by families.

“I am most proud of the Burton staff in helping implement these good practice standards and embed them in our philosophy of care.”

Bliss is impressed by many aspects of the unit’s care, including:

• The unit has a very cohesive and passionate senior team who is focused on improving quality and who share the same ethos of not making a service reliant on one person, therefore investing in the upskill of staff so that everyone can provide the best possible support to families.

• The availability of a dedicated bereavement lead, and the compassionate and sensitive delivery of individualised bereavement support, including memory making, home visits with the bereavement lead, and support with funeral arrangements.

• A clinical psychologist has been in post since May. The provision of psychosocial support sounds well thought out, with grounding and mindfulness forming part of the environment.

• There are comprehensive training opportunities for staff once a month provided by the Network psychologist.

Claire Belcher and Adam Johnson, parents of Hattie Johnson, said: "We were thrown into Burton NICU for a week when our little girl was born at the start of the pandemic in April 2020. It wasn’t planned, she became poorly after the birth and it wasn’t how I pictured the start of parenthood to be. It was hard.

“We were first time parents, unable to stay together or stay with our baby due to the uncertainty of covid-19. But, due to the caring staff who went above and beyond finding a room for me to stay with my newborn they made the whole experience a lot more comfortable.

“I was desperate to breastfeed and they supported this by showing me how to hand express while my daughter needed to be tube fed. Although it was a tough time because of the pandemic, the staff ensured that not only my daughter was well cared for but my physical and mental wellbeing was also looked after.

“They provided snacks and meals in the little kitchen, kept checking in on me when I couldn’t leave our little room and ensured I knew what was happening throughout our week long NICU journey. Thank you to all the staff who took such great care of us all."