Government should roll-out the National Bereavement Care Pathway
5 min read
By committing to funding the NBCP roll-out across England in October, the Government will ensure that the quality of bereavement care which these families are received is as good as possible, as soon as possible, says Will Quince MP.
‘Member of Parliament’ may just be a title, albeit a nice one, but it gives every one of us the platform to make a difference whether it be a small change which affects just one of our constituents, or something huge with affects everyone in the UK.
I never entered politics with the intention of becoming a baby loss awareness campaigner. Like so many in this field, the loss of a child – my son in 2014 – brought about my interest and desire to bring about change. Initially this involved the provision of bereavement suites across the country as I was staggered that around 50% of hospitals in England had no such suites for bereaved parents. The debate which I led on this matter is still one of the most powerful I have attended, and was the trigger for a few of us to set up the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Baby Loss.
National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP)
Last Monday the APPG hosted a reception to mark the launch of the second wave of National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) sites. Launched last year at 11 sites across England, the NBCP has been developed by a number of baby loss charities and professional organisations with the support of the Department of Health and Social Care and is designed to improve the quality of bereavement care experienced by parents and families at all stages of pregnancy and baby loss up to 12 months. It provides a practical framework for all those healthcare and other professionals involved, and has been informed and led by the views of bereaved parents at every stage of its development.
Each year in the UK, thousands of parents and wider families sadly go through the devastating experience of pregnancy or baby loss. While we cannot take away that devastation and grief, we can work to ensure that they receive the best quality bereavement care that the NHS can deliver
This has been a priority for the APPG for two reasons. Firstly, there is an inconsistency in the quality and standard of bereavement care across the country. A report from Sands in 2016 found that in Trusts with maternity units, only 46% provided mandatory bereavement care training for maternity unit staff. Further, of those who did provide the training, 86% provided their staff with just one hour or less training on this each year. It is incredibly important that those parents who suffer the loss of a child receive the best possible care wherever they are in the country, and that is what the NBCP does.
The second reason however is that even with the Government’s ambitious target of reducing stillbirth and infant death by 50% by 2025, it will still mean thousands of stillbirths and neonatal deaths annually with tens of thousands of parents, grandparents and wider family members going through the tragedy of baby loss. Whilst it is right that we work to reduce baby loss rates, we also need to ensure that there is high quality care for those parents who do still lose a child.
NBCP pilot sites
Last month I had the opportunity to visit Chelsea & Westminster Hospital with West Middlesex Hospitals, which is one of the first NBCP pilot sites, to see it in action. It was great to chat with staff in the hospital to discuss what challenges they faced in implementing the NBCP and what benefits they have found for parents.
My experience at that visit has been backed up by the recent early evaluation of the first phase of the NBCP. Feedback from the pilot sites found that the NBCP has helped in raising the profile of bereavement care in hospitals, a vital change now that this will now be assessed as part of CQC inspections, and that it has also encouraged different teams within hospitals to work closer together. The independent report has shown the need for the programme, but also its clear impact – for example, where bereavement midwives are in post they are making a significant and positive difference in their Trust. The findings show the huge potential for improving bereavement care in pregnancy and baby loss, something that I and the APPG will continue to proudly support.
With the evidence showing that the NBCP is making a big difference in improving the quality of bereavement care in the hospitals where it is being piloted, the plan is to roll it out across the country in October this year. The Government should commit to fully funding this roll-out, as well as put in place the resources needed to ensure that staff are given the training and facilities they need to make it a success and give bereaved parents the best possible care.
The loss of a child is something which affects tens of thousands of parents every year. By committing to funding the NBCP rollout across England in October, the Government will ensure that the quality of bereavement care which these families are received is as good as possible, as soon as possible.
Will Quince is Conservative MP for Colchester.
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