4Louis charity is donating Privacy Prams for palliative and bereavement care (or for any baby), providing babies and their families privacy and dignity outside of the unit setting. The

We are pleased to introduce the updated London SCAMP PN guideline, revised by the London Neonatal Nutrition Group (LNNG) and ratified. The updated guideline can be found on the ODN

The LNNG is currently leading the reformulation of the London SCAMP PN in preparation for the upcoming London Procurement retender process, which will take effect from early 2027. As the

The South London Clinical Practice & Governance Group is delighted to share its newly developed guidance on routine micronutrient supplementation for neonates. Designed as a perinatal resource, this document supports

Evidence from UK and international neonatal care shows that greater parental involvement including skin-to-skin care and Family Integrated Care (FICare) is associated with improved outcomes for babies and families. These

A new Pan London Network guideline on skin-to-skin is nearing completion. Developed by a multidisciplinary group, it aims to increase opportunities for families to engage in skin-to-skin contact, build staff

Planning process is underway for Cohort 2, with the view to start scanning units from Spring. This initiative highlights strong collaboration between NHS organisations and charitable partners, whose support has

We are pleased to share a new parent information leaflet supporting families who will have a repatriation. This leaflet has been designed to align with the recently released Pan London

The ODN SLT leads have been preparing to teach on the AQIS course, ensuring nurses have knowledge and skills regarding developmentally supportive care and babies with a more complex feeding

SLT will be starting monthly virtual drop ins for unit SLTs navigating the new Identification tool.

London Neonatal SLTs met in March to discuss in-patient pathways to facilitate parents to support early language and communication needs at the neonatal stage. This has been a focus for

In January, we supported the National Neonatal OT ODN group in delivering a webinar for clinicians interested in pursuing a career in Neonatal Occupational Therapy.

The Pan-London Developmental Care Guideline is currently being finalised. Once complete, it will be circulated to the PAG and wider neonatal colleagues for consultation and feedback.

We have completed an audit tool with almost all neonatal units across London that currently do not have Occupational Therapy (OT) provision. We are now in the process of developing

We hosted a face-to-face Neonatal OT Peer Supervision session in February, which was very well received by attendees. Following positive feedback from the group, we are planning to run two

The Bliss Facebook Peer Support Group is a warm and welcoming community for parents of babies born premature or sick, where they can connect with others who understand their neonatal

Families with babies in neonatal care can sometimes have questions about their legal rights — whether related to maternity and parental leave, employment, complaints processes, or understanding next steps after

Healthcare professionals and neonatal units can continue to access Pampers Preemie Protection Nappies, developed to be extra gentle on even the most fragile of skin. Order direct to your unit,

Bliss held a focus group with bereaved parents in February, following which standards on bereavement and palliative care were finalised. These will be put on pause until the audit of

Don't forget that Bliss have a new video series that has been created for neonatal staff to explore the psychological impact of a neonatal stay and to delve deeper into the challenges

We are working on a huge number of documents which you will see coming through for consultation in the next few months. This includes the Identifying need document helping units

We continue to visit units for the Compassionate care conversations. For more information on what this involves please see our FAQ sheet The initial report on the conversations done so far

 Unpicking complexity in neonatal care webinar series. We had an excellent first session at the beginning of February on ethics and moral injury. The next webinar on 29th April is on

We are delighted with the update of our quick wins webinar series. These are 30 minute skills based webinars happening once a month. We aim for these to be practical and

BAPM delivered an excellent webinar on 5th March on management of babies with stomas. If you missed it, the recording can be viewed here Webinar: Management of the preterm infant

A prevention of future deaths report was published in January 2026, following the death of a premature infant at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. A newborn patient was wrongly prescribed sodium

There is currently a national shortage of potassium canrenoate injection. Various alternative imports are being considered but concerns have been raised about the practicality of dilution, as they are a

Fresenius Kabi have discontinued manufacture and distribution of 10% glucose + 0.18% sodium chloride 500mL bags. If you are a unit who routinely uses these bags as a maintenance fluid,

Most neonatal units do not routinely prescribe omeprazole liquid for managing reflux, but it is sometimes given to infants in surgical centres e.g. post-surgical TOF repair. It is worth noting

The RSV prophylaxis programme for 2025-26 has come to an end. No further doses of Nirsevimab should be administered beyond February 2026. The Bluteq form will remain available until 31

Sian (Lead Pharmacist, London Neonatal ODN) will perform in LIFELINE The Musical at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 28 March - 2 May 2026. LIFELINE tells the story of antimicrobial resistance

On the NNU, you can read to your baby whilst they are in their cot, an incubator, during breastfeeding, cuddles or skin to skin moments. When reading to your baby,

Bliss are delighted to share brand new resources for neonatal healthcare professionals. ‘The psychological impact of neonatal care’ is a series of videos featuring experts and parents. As a pillar

New video resources  Bliss are delighted to share brand new resources for neonatal healthcare professionals. ‘The psychological impact of neonatal care’ is a series of videos featuring experts and parents.

From 06.11.2025 the NNAP started reporting course durations for "Adherent" patients in the Antenatal Steroids measure. These are currently available only in the Details column of the Patient List in

The newest version of the Pan-London Neonatal Repatriation Guidance has been developed through collaborative clinical expertise, bringing together insights from neonatal teams across London. The refreshed version of the guidance

Several units are progressing well with their BLISS Baby Charter work, this year alone we have seen positive movement from 7 of our London units who have either progressed or

 For units who are switching to standard concentration morphine infusions, please get in touch (s.gaze@nhs.net) if you would be interested in purchasing ready-to-use morphine vials – a pharmaceutical company is considering manufacturing them

East of England ODN have developed a Neonatal Drug Infusion Calculator  which is free to access via their website - units who are starting to implement standard concentration infusions may find

Standard concentration infusions are being rolled-out in neonatal units all across the UK  (national framework: Microsoft Word - Standard Infusions Nov 2024 (Final) An e-learning pack is in development and will

Nirsevimab RSV prophylaxis has been rolled-out and has replaced palivizumab this winter season. Offered to more patients this year (all infants born < 32 weeks are now eligible) Main advantage

The NPPG Neonatology Specialist Interest Group have been busy working on an e-Learning pack (Baby Flamingo) for new neonatal pharmacists – is now live & free to access via

New 'quick wins' series of 30-minute skills based webinars. One per month on the 3rd Wednesday A series of webinars across the year looking at topics you've raised with us as

It has been a busy and fulfilling year for the psychological professionals. We have grown our workforce by recruiting to the unfilled Ockenden funded posts, and through some brilliant business

The RCSLT Identification Tool is a new resource developed by London ODN SLTs as part of a national OD SLT working party to support unit SLTs in identifying babies who

THH received a visit last month from their ODN SLT Lead. THH was one of the nine units to receive Ockenden funding for Speech and Language Therapy in London, enhancing

To wrap up the year, we’re pleased to share some of the key pieces of work we’ve supported and led on: Bitesize FICare Pack – now complete and ready to

Units across London marked World Prematurity Day (17th of Nov) with bake sales, raffles, certificates, purple-themed celebrations, and activities raising awareness for preterm babies and their families. A special thank

We’re excited to share that work on the FICare Guideline is officially underway! Two of our Care Coordinators will be project leading this important piece of work, supported by a

7 units and 1 transport vehicle had their 3D virtual tours filmed across September and October. These tours are now in the editing stage, and we look forward to sharing

Our BFI peer support group continues to steadily grow, with increasing engagement and enthusiasm from health professionals. It’s wonderful to see this community strengthening and creating a supportive space for

Across our 27 units, we saw steady progress along the Baby Friendly Initiative pathway this year, with movement toward higher stages and a reduction in early-stage registration categories. In total,

The data cleaning and validation period for 2025 data will run from Tuesday 6th January to Friday 13th March 2026. The full calendar year of 2025 data will be available on the Restricted

Work continues on the development of a comprehensive regional training pathway for both junior and senior neonatal nurses. The pathway aims to: Provide clear and structured routes for professional progression

We are currently supporting one unit in the region to achieve RCN Accreditation as part of the pilot phase of this project. This initial work will help establish the framework

On behalf of the London Neonatal Operational Delivery Network and NHS North Central London ICB Many of you will know that Giles Kendall, Clinical Lead for the NCL Clinical Oversight

Congratulations to  Dr Tristan Bate winning an award at the first ever Regional Maternity and Neonatal Awards Dr Tristan Bate winning the award for compassionate leadership from our first-ever London Maternity

Congratulations to Merla Medina nominated as a Finalist for Neonatal Nurse of the Year Award 2025   Neonatal Nurses Association are delighted to announce that Merla Medina has been selected as

BFI Peer support Sessions Our BFI Peer Support Sessions continue to provide a space for rich discussions and shared learning. The next session will be held on 23rd October 2–3pm,

Hot Topics Webinar The LNNG look forward to welcoming you all to our next Hot Topics webinar on 8th October, 1-3pm. This free webinar is a must for dietitians, doctors,

We have recently published this document Outpatient-staffing-standards_psych_April2025-final.pdf  which lays out how the needs of infants and families should be met post-discharge. We will now be working to think with commissioners and

Support for families following a neonatal stay In the recent outreach survey the biggest thing mentioned by families was support around their wellbeing and mental health. In line with the

We have been running this training for a couple of years now and the evaluations are always excellent. People really value learning more about how to support families beter We

TRIM By the time you read this we will have held our Trauma risk management (TRIM) implementation workshop. This was a follow up after the training we offered to a

PIE meetings - making care safer We are currently setting up Psychologically informed care (PIE) meetings with all NCEL and SL units. These meetings are with the senior team on

Respiratory Management and Airway Clearance Guideline is now available. Thank you to all the MDT who contributed to the development of the guideline. We will soon be collaborating further on

Baby Charter update The current status for units in London progressing through the Baby Charter is as follows: Not registered - 2 units Registered - 6 units Pledge of Improvement

FAMILY INTEGRATED CARE (FICare) This leaflet has been designed to support parents, carers & families around the topic of Family Integrated Care or FICare and the way it is experienced

Preterm Birth Perinatal Optimisation Leaflets now LIVE in 26 languages Developed in collaboration with London’s Health Innovation Networks, the Neonatal ODN, and parents with lived experience, our new Preterm

While many of our key projects are still in development, here’s a look at what’s been keeping us busy and what’s coming next! Work in Progress – Strategic Projects Underway

TRIM is a post-incident procedure carried out by trained members of staff called TRiM practitioners. These practitioners provide post incident support for those that has been exposed to traumatic events.

The new Parents' Mental Health information is live on our website.  Informed by the involvement work Bliss has done with families and including a page specifically for Black parents this resource

Bliss has created two videos to show the services we provide to parents, one for parents and one for healthcare professionals. Our support and information ensures parents are less isolated, more

We are delighted to share this guide which lays out best practice for allied health professionals, psychological professionals and pharmacists (AHPPPs) working in Neonatal Units in London. Key Points: •

Three Year Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services Three Year Delivery Plan Technical Guidance Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle version 3 Core Competency Framework version 2 Maternity and Neonatal

The MBRRACE-UK Real-Time Data Monitoring Tool is available to all trusts to track real time trends in perinatal mortality (all stillbirths, late fetal losses and neonatal deaths from 20 weeks).

NHS England are working in collaboration with a number of key partners and organisations to better understand the nature, extent and impact of work-based violence, harassment and abuse to NHS

We know that babies do best when they are in neonatal care with parents at their cot side. The new Neonatal Care Leave and Pay Act became Law from 6th

Congratulations @Blisscharity, from today parents facing the challenges of a premature or sick baby can access paid leave, ensuring they can be by their side without sacrificing income. The Neonatal

Welcome to Milly Munn who is Joint Lead Neonatal Physiotherapist whilst Anna Lukens is on maternity leave. She covers North West and South London sectors  Read her Bio

SLT celebrated the dual qualification of Neonatal SLT and Lactation consultancy in their recent Pan London Neonatal SLT meeting with guest speakers Katie Cullinham (University Collage London Hospitals) and Annie

Following the publication of the UK national framework for recommended standard concentration IV drug infusions for neonates Standard Infusions Nov 2024  the London Neonatal ODN has agreed that it supports

Kerry Engelbrecht and Inês Malheiros have recently joined the team as Lead Occupational Therapists (OT) for the London Neonatal Network, covering maternity leave. Kerry supports the

A key focus for OT this year will be implementing a newly developed audit tool for neonatal units without OT provision. This tool aims to promote the OT role in

Physiotherapy leads are now doing more collaborative work with the neonatal physiotherapy committee within the APCP. This includes revision of the ‘good practice guide for neonatal physiotherapists’, education on the

The Phase 1 report of the London InFed project is now published. This scoping project highlights that over 40% of Infant Feeding Support hours across the network are unfunded, with

The psychology annual report is now out. In 2024 we provided course places for 70% of the psychological professionals working on, or supporting neonatal units. Those that did not take

The 3 year plan for maternity and neonates asks us to respond to families with compassion. To do this we first need to be compassionate to ourselves and each other,

Over the last year we have been working on benchmarking and reviewing the psychologically informed environment in neonatal units. This was helpful in giving us an initial sense of where

We continue to run Trauma informed care (TIC) training days. These days offer staff a one-day face to face training with our senior clinical psychologists, looking at how trauma affects

We have now trained 39 neonatal MDT members in Trauma risk management (TRIM) with 5 more to train in the next couple of months. This is a model which equips

The GenOMICC study has expanded its recruitment cohort to include babies born before 32 weeks postmenstrual age.  Help us understand and find new treatments for covid, sepsis, influenza and other

The National Neonatal Standards for Neonatal Qualified in Specialty (QIS) Education have been officially published! These standards aim to enhance the quality and consistency of neonatal QIS education programmes across

Invitation to join Latest COMET recruit from Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. Dr Melanie Phillips (PI) and Heidi Holland (research nurse) Multi-centre, randomised, open-label clinical trial Aim: Evaluate the safety,

We’re excited to share two new resources that can help guide and support your work. Both resources are available as virtual and printable leaflets; Parent Support Groups: A resource designed

  The first session will be held virtually, and the aim is to provide essential support to all professionals involved in the BFI (Baby Friendly Initiative) accreditation journey. These sessions

A free 1 hour long Introductory Teaching Session on FICare for all neonatal staff in London to access. Family Integrated Care (FICare) is currently being introduced and embedded into everyday

In July 2024, the Neonatal ODN appointed a Lead Pharmacist, Sian Gaze, to oversee the delivery of neonatal pharmaceutical services in London. Sian works on Mondays and Thursdays in her

We are delighted to welcome you to the London ODN Conference. Set within the beautiful surroundings of the Harris Birthright Centre, we have a stellar line-up of local and

Thank you to the 120+ staff members who attended our first LNNG Hot Topics webinar on 20th November, we hope you found it interesting and informative. And many thanks to our

Milly Munn is joining us on the 16th December to cover Anna’s maternity leave. She will be covering South London units and part of NW London. We are continuing to work

In November 2024, the Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group (NPPG) updated their ‘Standardising Intravenous Infusions for Neonates and Children in the UK’ publication (Standard-Infusions-Nov-2024-Final.pdf) to include many more recommended concentrations for

  The Foundations in Neonatal Care (FiNC) is a 12-week module designed to develop accountable, independent, autonomous, and innovative healthcare professionals. It is suitable for Newly Qualified Nurses, New to

National Neonatal Standards for neonatal qualified in specialty (QIS) education has been released, click on link to access the document NHS England » National standards for neonatal qualified in specialty

TRIM stands for Trauma Risk Management. It is a set model which trains staff up to respond to support their colleagues after a traumatic incident. We are offering free TRIM

It focuses on current and past trauma It asks us to hold in mind this trauma It is a model which asks us to respond to families and colleagues in

This is an approach which thinks about everything we do on our neonatal unit, and everyone who is involved on the unit, staff, families and babies. Psychologically informed care should

Join our regular Journal Club meetings   For this week's Journal Club, we are very much looking forward to hearing from Professor Barbara Schmidt, from the Pennsylvania and McMaster Universities, presenting her

Congratulations to the great representation from neonatal OT at the Annual Neonatal AHP Conference in November – some excellent examples of fantastic practice and AHP quality improvement projects with Kings

Building on the work of the Health Education England Neonatal Speech and Language Therapy modules, London ODN SLT have been creating a new education offer for neonatal SLTs who are

Education & Training have been a big focus over the past quarter, with planning and teaching on the ANQiS course as well as in other national and international programs (e.g.

Keep up-to-date on jobs and vacancies within our London Neonatal Units, Neonatal Transport Service, the London Neonatal ODN and more.. Visit our page on here

It is with sadness that we have had to say Bon voyage to our PAG Chair Jade Umeh. Jade had made the difficult decision to step back for the role

The physiotherapy leads are running the next face to face neonatal physiotherapy peer support day in October 2024, bringing together all the neonatal physios across London to network and discuss

We are bringing together the first part of the benchmarking of psychologically informed care which the hub psychologists have been doing across NCEL and South London. We will be sharing

The OT leads have created an audit tool to use with units with no OT provision. There is a plan to use the tool to promote the OT role on

The London ODN was proud to be able to host the annual National Care Coordinator groups (NCCG) away day in May this year. Nationally there are 10 neonatal operational delivery

St Helier and Epsom have successfully created a wonderful welcome video for parents and families, showcasing their neonatal unit, staff and parental experiences. This project was co-produced with parents and

Psychological professionals are clinical psychologists and psychotherapists. Currently we have a psychological professional in most but not all of the units in London, but many have a very small amount

Celebrating London’s 1st BLISS GOLD Accreditation, BLISS Baby Charter The Whittington is the first London neonatal unit to achieve this accolade. The GOLD award recognises an outstanding team for their

  Free Introduction to Family Integrated Care (FICare) Teaching Session A free 1 hour long Introductory Teaching Session on FICare for all neonatal staff in London to access. Family Integrated