RCN endorsement ensures education and training for neonatal services staff is focused on improving patient safety outcomes

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been commissioned to pilot two neonatal education and training providers to ensure that the national standards published by National Health Service England are being fulfilled through their education and training. The standards, launched at the end of 2024, are the first of their kind for neonatal qualified in specialty (QIS) education for nurses and midwives. They were developed with the aim of ensuring quality and to standardise neonatal nurse education and training.

The RCN, alongside the Neonatal Nurses Association and the British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM), has endorsed these standards.

Until now, neonatal QIS training has been delivered by universities and other training providers across England, but there has never been a framework to ensure consistency across all training providers. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) quality assures undergraduate nursing courses, but there has been no equivalent mechanism for post-registration neonatal education and training.

BAPM will require at least 70 per cent of nurses working on neonatal units to have completed QIS education under the new standards, and the Care Quality Commission will use completion rates of the course as a quality metric.

The RCN says its accreditation is a guarantee that the education and training meets the standards, providing assurance to learners, employers and providers.

It is hoped that following the pilot, a broader rollout to more education and training providers will start in 2026.

RCN Head of Nursing Carli Whittaker says: “This work is not about discrediting existing or historic training, but about ensuring standardisation and quality across the board for future neonatal education.

“RCN accreditation is the guarantee of excellent, evidence-based training and education. By leading this work, we are helping to ensure consistency of standards, support neonatal nurses, and ultimately improve outcomes for the most vulnerable babies.”

The RCN is also recruiting experienced subject matter experts in neonatal nursing and education to peer review the accreditation work.