Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Bereavement Team excel to win Sands Award

The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Bereavement Team is celebrating after winning the Sands (Stillbirth and neonatal death charity) Award for Bereavement Care, at The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Annual Midwifery Awards.

Clare Beesley, a bereavement midwife and part of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Bereavement Team in Solihull, was presented with the prestigious award at the RCM ceremony that took place on Tuesday 7 March at The Brewery, London.

The Sands Award for Bereavement Care recognises excellence in bereavement care provision by maternity staff for women and their families when a baby dies. The team won the award as they demonstrated that they provide high quality, empathic and safe bereavement care.

Clare Beesley said: “We were overwhelmed to receive the Bereavement Care Award and to be recognised by Sands and the RCM for our passion and commitment to care for bereaved families and their precious babies. It is something that the whole team are so proud of and will inspire us to continue our work in providing best possible practice for families at such a devastating time in their lives.”

The RCM Annual Midwifery Awards rewards, celebrates and shares outstanding achievement in midwifery across the UK.

Cheryl Titherly, Improving Bereavement Care Manager at Sands, said: “I would like to congratulate Clare and her team on winning their well-deserved Sands Award. The team have demonstrated they go beyond what would ordinarily be expected of them to provide the best possible standard of bereavement care.

“Clare has also developed a number of key initiatives to support her team in providing bereavement care, including online training that will help her and her colleagues to continue to provide the best possible support to bereaved parents.”

There was further good news on the night as Laura Wyatt, a bereavement midwife from South Wales who works closely with the Cardiff Sands support group, was presented with the ‘Midwife of the Year’ award.

Improving the care bereaved parents receive is one of Sands’ core aims. To achieve this the charity works in partnership with health professionals and others to minimise the risks of stillbirth and to ensure the families of those babies who do die receive the best possible care.

For further information on the Sands Award read Cheryl Titherly’s blog: http://bit.ly/2mpqc9D Follow Sands on Twitter at @SandsUK

Ends

Notes to editors

Picture – Clare Beesley receives the Sands Award for Bereavement Care at The Royal College of Midwives Annual Midwifery Awards.

For further information, please contact Lee Armitt, Press and PR Officer in the Sands press office on 0203 598 1959/07587 925411 or media@uk-sands.org

About Sands

Sands is the leading stillbirth and neonatal death charity in the UK. They work nationally to reduce baby deaths through promoting better maternity care and funding research. They have a programme of training and a wide range of resources designed to support professionals to improve the bereavement care they provide following the death of a baby, and they provide a comprehensive bereavement support service both nationally through their helpline and locally through around 100 regional support groups based across the UK. Further information can be found at www.sands.org.uk