St Peter's Hospital neonatal unit receives Bliss Baby Charter Accreditation

St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey, has become the sixth hospital in England to receive a prestigious award for its neonatal unit from the UK's leading premature and sick baby charity Bliss. St Peter's received the highest score of any neonatal unit to be assessed by Bliss for the award.

The assessment found that St Peter's excelled at providing support for families through a multi disciplinary team that includes a family support coordinator, chaplain, breastfeeding lead, safeguarding lead and interpreter. The unit's spacious, well-equipped accommodation also enables parents to stay close to their baby. Bliss highlighted the supportive staff culture, which includes Good News Fridays as a way of maintaining high morale.

A ceremony was held on 16 December where staff on the neonatal unit were presented with a plaque and certificate to mark their achievement.

Dr Peter Reynolds, Consultant Neonatologist and Specialty Lead at St Peter's NICU says: "We are delighted that, after many months of hard work and a demanding assessment, the NICU has been awarded the prestigious Bliss Baby Charter Accreditation.

"Working towards the assessment has helped us to examine every step that families face when their baby requires neonatal care, and has helped us embed novel practices such as the 'Birthday Cuddle' (ensuring a parent can hold their baby after birth for five minutes once they are stable) into our practice.

"The awarding of this Charter provides robust evidence that the neonatal care we give to babies and families is of the very highest quality, and the team is immensely proud of this achievement."