Neonatal unit wins prestigious award

Royal Stoke University Hospital's neonatal unit has received the first Parents' Choice Award from Bliss, the charity for babies born premature or sick.

The hospital was nominated for the Bliss Neonatal Excellence Award by Kim Wheat whose baby Bonnie-Flo was born eight weeks premature weighing 1,503g. Kim believes the team deserves the award because they encouraged her and her partner to be fully involved in their daughter's care and provided clear instructions and communication.

Kim says: "My daughter spent just over five weeks in the NICU and as first time parents this was a scary and confusing experience. The NICU team at Royal Stoke went above and beyond to explain everything about my daughter's care and progression in detail. From day one, all the hospital staff encouraged us to take part in Bonnie-Flo's care. They taught us how to change a nappy through the incubator and how to feed using a nasal tube."

Chief Executive at Bliss Caroline Lee-Davey says: "We have introduced our Neonatal Excellence Awards to recognise and celebrate outstanding individuals, teams and projects that make a real difference to babies born premature or sick through delivering high quality family-centred care as part of the charter. More than 160 units across the country use the Bliss Baby Charter every day to develop meaningful improvements to care that benefit babies and their families. We are tremendously excited to present our first Parents' Choice award to the team at Royal Stoke in recognition of their excellent work."

The Bliss Neonatal Excellence Awards were held in Manchester on 12 March.