East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is delighted to announce it is now the 100th Trust to commit to the National Bereavement Care Pathways (NBCP), which works to provide high quality bereavement care to parents and families who experience pregnancy loss or the death of a baby.
As part of the pathway, colleagues will work in partnership with health professionals and others to minimise the risks of stillbirth and to ensure the families of those babies who do die receive the best possible care.
Following the commitment, Marc Harder, Head of Hospital Liaison and Beveavement Care at Sands, a stillbirth and neonatal death charity in the UK, visited Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital where he was shown round the facilities by Kathryn Sansby, a Specialist Bereavement Midwife at the Trust. Sands have been leading the roll out of the NBCP since 2019 which includes a nine-point plan that helps NHS Trusts improve the quality of care for bereaved families.
Following the visit, Kathryn said: “We are delighted to be the 100th Trust to sign up to the National Bereavement Care Pathways. This demonstrates the commitment to provide high quality bereavement care both nationally and locally. Here at ELHT this will give us a chance to highlight both the excellent care that we strive to provide and any areas that we need to improve upon within Maternity and Family Care.”
The Trusts that have implemented the Pathway since its first pilots back in 2017 have seen huge improvements in bereavement care.
Marc added: “I’m so pleased to have reached this milestone in our mission. It’s a testament to the dedication and hard work of healthcare professionals, our partners, as well as our supporters who campaign to ensure high quality bereavement care is the norm, and not an exception.
We are looking forward to our continued work with the 100 Trusts in England who have signed up so far.”
