NHS Borders Celebrates UNICEF Baby Friendly Re-accreditation

That the Parliament congratulates NHS Borders on being awarded UNICEF Baby Friendly re-accreditation for the fourth consecutive year; understands that a UNICEF assessor visited NHS Borders in June 2023 to conduct a thorough assessment of the standards of care provided by the Health Visiting and Family Nurse Partnership staff, which included an inspection of the premises where care is delivered, as well as interviewing parents and staff; notes that the assessor concluded in their report that pregnant women and new mothers receive a "very high standard of care" at NHS Borders, acknowledged the challenges that staff faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and commended staff for their "hard work" to reinstate the full universal health visiting pathway; further notes that, due to the positive feedback received from UNICEF, NHS Borders has now been invited to progress towards achieving the Gold Sustainability Award, which, it understands, would help to embed and maintain Baby Friendly practices in the longer term and reduce the need for the current level of continued external assessment, and pays credit to the professionalism, commitment and level of care clearly shown by the Health Visiting and Family Nurse Partnership staff, which has resulted in them receiving this prestigious recognition.