Following numerous organisations and campaigners demanding better bereavement care in the wake of the Ockenden report – including our own Sands campaign for more bereavement care training – NHS England has announced an additional £1.3m in funding to improve bereavement care provision. But does this new funding go far enough?
The newly announced funding is part of an £8m package that NHS England has earmarked for ‘obstetric leadership’, ‘bereavement provision’, and ‘maternity services support workers’. The obstetric leadership funding will involve just under £10,000 for each Trust to hire more personal assistants for obstetricians, while £28,000 per Trust will go towards hiring maternity services support workers to support overburdened midwives.
Bereavement services, which our recent bereavement care audit revealed to be understaffed and in urgent need of extra funding, will be invited to bid for two separate funding opportunities.
Firstly, £30,000 will be available only to trusts who are “furthest away from offering a daily service”. Secondly, £4,470 will be available to all trusts towards training costs to ensure that “adequate numbers of staff are trained in bereavement care”. Trusts are expected to apply for the funding through an online form.
This funding has the potential to improve bereavement care in targeted NHS trusts, but it is worth noting that the expectation is for trusts to continue the funding for themselves in the years following.
We welcome this new funding opportunity for bereavement care in the NHS. Equipping staff with specialised bereavement care training is one of the standards highlighted in the National Bereavement Care Pathway led by Sands. As such, it essential that those trusts which are in most need of funding take the opportunity to apply to avoid gaps in bereavement care.
Marc Harder, Head of Bereavement Care and Hospital Liaison at Sands
At Sands, we want the UK to be the safest place in the world to have a baby and for parents to receive the best possible care when a baby does tragically die. That is why we are thankful for this funding and will continue to campaign for more bereavement care staff in every trust and access to bereavement care training for those who need it.
Clea Harmer, Chief Executive of Sands
Sands had previously called for more bereavement training in trusts across the UK after we revealed that only 12% of midwives received bereavement care training during their work hours.