The results of an evaluation of the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) to support families affected by stillbirth and neonatal death has highlighted the benefits it has for parents and professionals.
The evaluation looked at the impact across 21 trusts in England over the past year.
Key messages:
- The NBCP has had two independent evaluations demonstrating its positive impact. It now must be rolled out to all NHS trusts
- The Department of Health and NHS England must continue to actively support and promote the NBCP
- The NBCP must be embedded across inspection and other frameworks including the Care Quality Commission and national guidance
- Access to appropriate to psychological therapies are not covered within the NBCP. The evaluation findings show this is a significant gap for bereaved parents that the government should take steps to address
- Waiting times should be reduced for bereaved parents to receive post mortem results
The report says: “The majority of professionals surveyed agree that bereavement care has improved and become more consistent in their hospitals over the period of the NBCP pilot.
"Those parents surveyed who received bereavement care during the pilot overwhelmingly agree that they were treated with respect, communicated with sensitively, and that the hospital was a caring and supportive environment. It is evident from parents’ responses that many aspects of the NBCP are being effectively implemented within the pilot hospitals.”