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Archived news

Archived news from April 2020-March 2022 has now been added to the archived news pages below, which also includes news from 2017-2020 

NBCP Update 21 July 2021:

A warm welcome to the NBCP to Somerset NHS Foundation Trust! We are delighted to welcome two more Trusts to the NBCP programme. 65% of Trusts in England have now signed up to the NBCP. Register your Trust's interest here.

We are also delighted that Janet Smethurst, Team Leader for Health Visiting & School Nursing in Calderdale's Early Years' Service has written a fantastic blog about her experience of developing the NBCP in a community setting. Read her thoughts on what the nine bereavement care standards look like in the community setting here

Over 100 healthcare professionals have signed up to the free NBCP autumn workshops - please book your place via the links below:

West Midlands 7 September  https://nbcp-networking-wksp-wm.eventbrite.co.uk

North West 9 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-nw.eventbrite.co.uk

Yorkshire & Humber 14 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-yh.eventbrite.co.uk

North East & East Midlands 15 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-ne-em.eventbrite.co.uk

South East & South Central 21 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-se-sc.eventbrite.co.uk

South West 23 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-sw.eventbrite.co.uk

East 28 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-east.eventbrite.co.uk

London 30 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-ldn.eventbrite.co.uk

 

NBCP Update 7 July 2021:

A warm welcome to the NBCP to Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and to the Isle of Man National Health Service! We are delighted to welcome two more Trusts to the NBCP programme. 64% of Trusts in England have now signed up to the NBCP. Register your Trust's interest here.

The NBCP autumn workshops are already proving popular, with many signing up - places remain so please book your free place via the links further down this page. 

The NBCP isn't just for hospitals - many trusts in the community are using the NBCP also. See how the Locala Health Visiting teams in Yorkshire are using the NBCP by viewing a recent presentation on our shared practice page. If you've got some recent experiences to share please get in touch with us via the website.

 

NBCP update 24 June 2021:

Booking details for the autumn NBCP England workshops announced:

Last year’s autumn NBCP regional networking workshops were really successful and we are excited to be repeating these this year. NBCP Leads and colleagues in their trust are welcome to join us again this autumn. These will also take place online, but we hope to be able to convene face to face workshops early next year.

The session will last 2 hours and will include the following themes:

Embedding the bereavement care standards

Working in a multidisciplinary team

Sharing good practice

Looking after yourselves

Connecting with regional colleagues

We would also like to hear from you regarding the areas which would be of most use and interest, so please get in touch with NBCP UK Lead Marc Harder marc.harder@sands.org.uk with your ideas, and any questions or queries you may have.

You can book attendance below:

 

West Midlands 7 September  https://nbcp-networking-wksp-wm.eventbrite.co.uk

North West 9 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-nw.eventbrite.co.uk

Yorkshire & Humber 14 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-yh.eventbrite.co.uk

North East & East Midlands 15 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-ne-em.eventbrite.co.uk

South East & South Central 21 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-se-sc.eventbrite.co.uk

South West 23 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-sw.eventbrite.co.uk

East 28 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-east.eventbrite.co.uk

London 30 September https://nbcp-networking-wksp-ldn.eventbrite.co.uk

If you're unable to book onto the date for your region, please feel free to book onto another date. The content will largely be the same, but discussion groups will be with others outside your region. 

A number of pages have been uploaded and updated today (27 May 2021):

Read our latest blog by Twins Trust's bereavement support group co-ordinator Sharon Darke who talks from experience about the importance of high quality bereavement care

The NBCP bereavement care survey was carried out in March and April of this year - find out what our respondents said here

Watch this space for details of our NBCP autumn workshops which are currently being arranged for September

Currently 63% of NHS Hospital Trusts in England have signed up to the NBCP - click here to see the updated list. A further 36% have expressed their interest in doing so. Find out here how you can turn your trust's interest into commitment! 

NBCP update 20 November 2020:

See our resources page for more information on bereavement support books which are now available in Arabic, Simplified Chinese and Polish: 

NBCP: Updated 9th September 2020:

  • New NHS England guidance regarding partners' attendance at appointments and scans came out late last night - huge thanks to all those who helped us to lobby for this important framework

 

  • the NBCP online networking workshops continue over the coming weeks - book your place here

 

 

Update 25th August 2020:

  • We know that sensitive communication with women and families is so important. This difficult task is made even harder when using PPE. Sands have created a leaflet based on feedback from healthcare professionals and parents which provides hints and tips in a handy format. Click here to download the leaflet. 

 

  • Spaces are still available at the NBCP online regional workshops over the coming weeks. These represent an excellent opportunity for healthcare professionals to share good practice in bereavement care, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, to hear updates on progress with the NBCP roll-out, and to network with colleagues in their own region. Book early to ensure your place at these free workshops.

 

Update 24th July 2020:

The first two regional networking workshops held this week have been a great success; huge thanks to all who came and took part from the West Midlands and from the North West.

Healthcare professionals working in bereavement care and linked into the NBCP in their sites are invited to join the online workshops as listed below. They will take place via MS Teams, from 2pm-3.45pm on each of the following dates:

Yorkshire & Humber 26th August book your place https://nbcpyorkshire.eventbrite.co.uk

East Midlands and North East (combined) 8th September book your place https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/114640328308

South East and South West (combined) 10th September book your place https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/114640894000

South West 16th September book your place https://nbcpsouthwest.eventbrite.co.uk

East region 21st September book your place https://nbcpeast.eventbrite.co.uk

London 24th September book your place https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/114643431590

 

 

 

Update 10th July 2020:

NBCP 2020 Impact Report released today - click here

Blog by Kate Mulley highlighted the impact report and latest progress - click here

NBCP online regional workshops announced - for details click here

 

Updated 14th May 2020:

We continue to add resources to the NBCP web page here and on our sister site in Scotland www.nbcpscotland.org.uk

  1. The British Association of Perinatal Medicine has released new advice regarding parents attending Neonatal Units during the Covid crisis:
  2. In the absence of face to face training, Sands has established an online training offer in the form of a series of webinars to take place later in May and in June. To join one of these free webinars which focus on supporting parents through pregnancy loss and the death of a baby, you will need to sign up via the link  
  3. The NHS has highlighted a number of range of support materials and useful resources to help improve the wellbeing of healthcare professionals during this difficult time :  

Unmind   
Headspace 
Sleepio  
Daylight  

Academy of Royal Colleges: Mental Well Being and staying safe

Coping with stress

4. If you would like to sign up to our fortnightly healthcare professionals bulletin, please click here

 

 

 

Updated 20th April 2020:

- Gail Johnson, Professional Adviser at the Royal College of Midwives has written a blog which can be found here

- Our first COVID-19 bulletin was produced and distributed on 10th April. If you'd like to be added to the distribution list, please let us know via the contact page. The next issue is due to be published on 24th April. 

- A new leaflet / guide to sensitive bereavement care for healthcare professionals can be found here

 

Updated 9th April 2020: Important information regarding COVID-19

- information relating to bereavement care during the outbreak can be found here

- information relating to support organisations able to support families during this time is available here

- the training page has been updated with links to the two new e-learning for health modules.

- a 'learning practice' area has been established. You can add your examples and signposts in the upload page here 

- the NBCP in Scotland recently went live in five Early Adopter boards. Click here to access the dedicated NBCP Scotland website which includes COVID-19 resources and information specific to Scotland.

These pages went live during April 2020 and will be regularly updated to ensure that we are able to best support NHS professionals and parents & families during this time. Keep checking back for the latest information. 

March 2020 update:

1. The NBCP is now live in five early adopter sites in Scotland - see our sister site here

2. 65 sites are now live in England, with a number of new sites joining in the last month: Plymouth, Royal Berkshire, Wye Valley, Yeovil District, West Suffolk, Dorset County, Brighton & Sussex, East & North Herts and Gloucestershire. Welcome all on board! 

3. Recent improvements have been made to the website:

- the training page has been updated with links to the two new e-learning for health modules.

- a new 'learning practice' area has been established. You can add your examples in the upload page here 

- a new appendices  page has been added where you can find the relevant appendices to the latest pathways material

February 2020 update:

* Updated guidance documents are now available via the 'for professionals' page. Please delete all previous versions of the guidance and use those with the footer 'for use in England from January 2020'.  

* As of 11 February, 123 of 140 Trusts in England have formally expressed an interest in adopting the NBCP. Of these 123, 55 have made a formal commitment. Of the 17 as yet to formally express an interest, we have had engagement with 13. 

* The latest trusts to adopt the NBCP since October are: 

Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Locala (Calderdale Health Visiting)

Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust

Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

Barts Health NHS Trust

Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Shrewsbury & Telford Hospitals NHS Trust

Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

We welcome all of these trusts on board the NBCP. For further information about how your trust can join up, access the green button at the bottom of the page.

* The two new NBCP e-learning modules are proving exceptionally popular. Why not access these now via www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/national-bereavement-care-pathway/. The first is a 10 minute introduction module for all (family, friends. social workers, teachers, staff working in hospitals who are not healthcare professionals). The second is a 30 minute focused session for Healthcare Professionals. 

* We are excited about the launch of the NBCP in Scotland. Five Early Adopter sites will go live later in March. Further information will be available via a Scotland NBCP website due to launch soon. 

 

October 2019 update:

Eleven new sites sign up to NBCP England & free workshops announced

We are delighted to announce that a further 11 new sites have signed up to the NBCP programme and are working towards the nine bereavement care standards. 

These eleven have signed up subsequent to the publication of the pilot site evaluation in May of this year and are as follows:

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
North Bristol Hospitals NHS Trust
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust- Burton site
Calderdale - Locala Health Visitors & partners
Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
St Mary's Hospital (Isle of Wight) NHS Trust
Queen Elizabeth King's Lynn NHS Trust
Guys & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust London
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
Luton & Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust 

This brings the total of NBCP sites to 43, after the successful pilot site programme covering 32 sites. We are also thrilled that a further 59 sites have formally expressed their interest in joining the programme, and look forward to receiving their formal commitment over the coming weeks. 

A series of workshops has been scheduled for November and December for those sites in the process of, or interested in adopting the NBCP. Healthcare professionals can book their attendance at these free workshops via the links below:

West Midlands - Coventry, 4 November 

Yorkshire & The Humber - York, 5 November 

East Midlands - Leicester, 21 November

North East - Durham, 22 November

South East - Medway, 2 December

South West - Exeter, 5 December

South Central - Slough, 12 December 

We are hoping to release dates for the East (December) London (January) and the North West (February) as soon as possible. 

 

National Bereavement Care Pathway - update September 2019 

3 September 2019: The NBCP England guidance materials (full versions and short versions for all five pathways) have been updated and uploaded to the website. For those sites using the previous versions, please remove these and use those updated today.

Since the roll-out of the NBCP began in May of this year, around 100 new Trusts have expressed their interest in adopting the NBCP. A number have then confirmed their plans and committed to adopt the NBCP. These sites will shortly receive a NBCP implementation pack from the central team. 

The NBCP e-learning training programme will be available very soon - check back regularly for updates over the next few days. 

 

15 May 2019: Prime Minister urges all NHS Trusts to adopt the National Bereavement Care Pathway

During Prime Minister’s Questions in Westminster on 15 May, the Prime Minister, in responding to a question from Antoinette Sandbach MP regarding the NBCP evaluation report released on 10 May, recognised the support that the NBCP provides to bereaved parents and urged all NHS Trusts to adopt the pathway. Your trust can do so by clicking the ‘register your interest’ button below.

 

 

 

10 May 2019: Minister for Mental Health, Jackie Doyle-Price has commented on the NBCP evaluation released today, saying:

“Every stillbirth or baby loss is a tragedy and we remain absolutely committed to supporting parents through this difficult time.

This independent evaluation shows that National Bereavement Care Pathway has already helped to strengthen the support for many bereaved families across the country, but there is more to do and I would urge all NHS Trusts to adopt this approach to ensure all care surrounding baby loss meets these consistent standards.

Through our Long Term Plan for the NHS we are also accelerating action to halve the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths over the next five years and improving access to perinatal mental health care for mothers and their partners."

NBCP Final Evaluation (10 May 2019)

The National Bereavement Care Pathway for Pregnancy and Baby Loss seeks to increase the quality of, and reduce the inequity in, the bereavement care provided by healthcare professionals after the loss of a baby or pregnancy at any gestation. This website provides information for professionals working with parents and professionals, and provides details of how to sign your Trust up to the NBCP. 

How can I adopt the NBCP in my Trust?

What have we learned from the pilot programme and why should other NHS Trusts in England adopt the NBCP?

Following the pilot programme, we are now keen to hear from healthcare professionals wanting to find out more about adopting the NBCP in their NHS Trust