Antrim Area Hospital Neonatal Unit receives BLISS Silver Award for family-centred care

(L-R): Suzie Forbes, Enhanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Kathie Dobbin, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and Jackie Quigg, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, who lead the BLISS Charter Silver Award initiative within Antrim Area Hospital’s Neonatal Unit.

The Neonatal Unit at Antrim Area Hospital has been honoured with the BLISS Baby Charter Silver Award, marking a significant achievement in the delivery of compassionate, family-focused neonatal care.

This is the first time the unit has received the prestigious recognition from the UK-based charity BLISS, which supports babies born premature or sick.

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust has praised the Neonatal Unit for its unwavering commitment to involving parents and carers as active partners in the care of their babies.

The award highlights the importance of collaborative care and reflects a broader move within the NHS towards personalised, integrated healthcare approaches.

Shirley Montgomery, Lead Nurse Paediatrics and Neonatology at Antrim Area Hospital, said:

“Evidence shows that outcomes for babies are improved when parents and carers are partners in their baby’s care so it is vital that our staff foster positive relationships with parents.

“Achieving BLISS Baby Charter Silver Award is an esteemed marker of quality which everyone at the Neonatal Unit is very proud of. It reflects our staff’s continued efforts to provide compassionate, collaborative, and high-quality neonatal care.

“Family Integrated Care (FICare) is at the heart of everything we do. By adopting this partnership approach we actively listen to carers and families to ensure we understand and respond to their needs, which in turn helps us to provide the best possible care for our babies and those closest to them.”

Excellence in Family Integrated Care

The BLISS Baby Charter recognises neonatal services that go above and beyond in supporting families during one of the most critical periods of their lives. The Silver Award is granted to units that demonstrate exemplary practice in Family Integrated Care (FICare)—a model that empowers parents to be hands-on and fully engaged in the care of their newborns.

Key areas assessed under the Charter include:

• Hands-on care: Encouraging parents and carers to provide direct comfort and support to their babies.

• Shared decision-making: Ensuring families are fully involved in planning and making decisions about care.

• Individualised care: Responding to the specific needs and preferences of each baby and their family.

• Removing barriers: Identifying and addressing obstacles that prevent families from participating in their baby’s care.

• Lived experience: Using real feedback from families to shape and improve clinical practices.

The award not only reflects the unit’s high standards but also acknowledges its proactive role in reducing health inequalities and improving outcomes for vulnerable infants across Northern Ireland.

Aiming for Gold

Following this recognition, the Antrim Area Hospital Neonatal Unit has been recommended to work towards the Gold level of the BLISS Baby Charter—a further endorsement of the team’s dedication to continuous improvement in neonatal care.

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is supporting the unit as it begins preparations to meet the even more rigorous standards required for the top-tier award in the coming months.