THURSDAY, 23 AUGUST, 2018

Photograph attached: l-r Chief Midwife Justine Craig, Family Nurse supervisor Carole Ramsay, Chief Nursing Officer Fiona McQueen, Infant Nutrition Coordinator Janet Dalzell, senior nurse neonatal services Alison Wright and Nurse Director Gillian Costello

NHS Tayside services first in Scotland to achieve Unicef Gold Award

NHS Tayside’s health visitor and family nurse services have become the first in Scotland to be accredited as Unicef UK Gold Baby Friendly services.

Baby Friendly accreditation is based on a set of standards for maternity, health visiting, neonatal and children’s centres services. They are designed to provide parents with the best possible care to build close and loving relationships with their baby and to feed their baby in ways which will support their health and development.

The prestigious Gold award was launched in 2016 as the next step for services that are currently accredited as Baby Friendly and consistently meeting the Baby Friendly standards.

NHS Tayside’s health visitor and family nurse services were highly commended in the assessment report which stated “It is evident from the feedback from mothers that they receive high standards of care in relation to Baby Friendly standards and that they value the kindness shown by staff – remarkably 100% of mothers reported that staff treated them with kindness at all times.”

The report also noted that “The Infant Nutrition Coordinator (INC) has a strong vision of the way forward to support, maintain and develop the necessary strategies for continued maintenance and development of the Baby Friendly standards. There is support for the INC from a highly motivated and engaged management team including the Guardian and a team of locally appointed champions.”

The services were presented with a plaque from Unicef at a celebration event attended by Chief Nursing Officer Fiona McQueen.

NHS Tayside INC Janet Dalzell said, “The Unicef UK Baby Friendly standards are an integral component of the health visitor and family nurse role and have enabled staff to support new families with caring and feeding their babies effectively. The staff are proud of this achievement and will continue to make improvements to support new families.”

Contact: Louise Wilson, NHS Tayside Communications, (01382) 740718