Plymouth NICU awarded Bliss Gold Accreditation

The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth has been involved with the Bliss Baby Charter since 2017. After initially achieving a pledge of improvement in 2019, the team went on to be awarded the Bronze Award in 2021 and most recently the Silver Award in May 2022. Now, the Plymouth NICU has become the 11th unit in the UK to achieve Gold Accreditation.

Róisín McKeon-Carter, Bliss Baby Charter Lead and Neonatal Nurse Consultant at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, says: "Neonatal Services in Derriford are thrilled to have been recognised and rewarded for our family-centred care by receiving the Bliss Gold Award. We have been working on the charter audit since 2017 which has given us focus to achieve the various standards and stages set. Our challenge is to have momentum and in three years’ time, we can submit our audit to achieve Bliss Platinum.

“We would like to thank the parents and staff who have all contributed to us achieving the award. The greatest ‘prize’ is that our Peninsula families articulated how well supported and cared for they are here in Derriford Hospital."

The evaluation from the Bliss Baby Charter states that the team’s overall ‘red-amber-green’ rating is 98.6%, and that they demonstrate having sufficient processes and facilities in place to deliver high quality, family-centred care. The report also said that staff at Derriford are dedicated to providing the best possible service and that parents are seen as part of the multidisciplinary team, not visitors, and actively supported by staff to become the primary carer for their baby.