By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
Hospitals leaders say the opening of Nottingham Queen’s Medical Centre’s new £32 million neonatal unit will mean some babies no longer need to be transferred out of the area to get the right specialist care.
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH) opened the new unit at the hospital today (December 10) after a large-scale development.
The project expanded the original space by four times and increased the number of cots for premature babies from 17 to 38, making the unit the largest in the East Midlands.
There is now more space for each baby and medical equipment, along with better privacy for families.
The smaller size of the old unit meant more than 100 babies a year needing specialist care were having to be transferred out of the area to other hospitals when the QMC ran out of room.
Jenni Twinn, Programme Director for Maternity and Neonatal Redesign, said that families now won’t be “between two locations”.
She said: “It’s a huge thing for the trust here, previously we had a challenge with our capacity and weren’t able to keep all of our neonatal babies here.
“This ensures that every baby that’s born here and needs neonatal care is able to stay here, close with their mum and their family.”
Alongside unit updates, the kitchen and lounge area for families staying in the overnight accommodation has also been updated.
Dr Lleona Lee, Consultant Neonatologist and Clinical Lead for Maternity and Neonatal Redesign said: “It’s one of the most important things, when our families come onto the unit it’s often a very stressful time- our job is to make them feel as welcome as possible.
“For our babies best outcomes, if we can promote family integrated care, make them feel welcome, promote that early bonding, it makes such a difference”
The works will also benefit staff, with a better seating area, enhanced natural lighting, and changing rooms.
Dr Lee said: “We’ve built an environment that allows them to deliver the best neonatal intensive care- they have more space to do that.”
Will and Amy Wood’s 18-month-old daughter India was born at 26 weeks in May 2023 and spent five months in the unit.
Will says it’s the “little things” in the new unit that will make a lot of difference.
He said: “The old unit you didn’t have sockets to charge your phones.
“If you’re by the little one’s cot for 18 hours a day and the only way to charge your phone is to go back to the room, which was about a five minute walk away from the unit- it wasn’t practical.
“You have your own chairs here where before it was whoever got to the unit first in the morning got the best chairs- finishing touches which make life a little bit less stressful.”
Amy appreciates the extra privacy families will now have in the space.
She said: “As a family you can have some quite difficult conversations around the cot side and I feel like everyone could hear it, not because they were being nosey, just because they could hear it.”
The Lincolnshire couple praised the nurses, saying some have become “friends for life” and believe the equipment is “only as good as the nurses”.
The unit also now has a dedicated bereavement suite for neonatal families for the first time.
Speaking at the opening event, Anthony May, Chief Executive of NUH, said: “You can see not just the care and attention that’s gone into this amazing new unit, you can see the love and the vocation.
“Because I’ve got close to our perinatal service, the journey families take through maternity, I know just what a vulnerable time it is for families.
“Families need extra love, care and attention when they come on to a unit like this- I am absolutely confident they will get that.”
The QMC is now NUH’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- the unit at City Hospital will become a local neonatal unit where babies can receive intensive care for 48 hours before being transferred to QMC.
Nottingham Hospitals Charity provided more than £322,000 to the new space as part of their Big Appeal. The Department for Health provided the bulk of the rest of the funding.
The charity funding went towards the frosted glass partition screens, the children’s play areas and televisions for the family rooms.
