A brand-new £32 million neonatal unit, the largest in the East Midlands in terms of cots and footprint, has opened at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham.
The new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) is four times the size of the previous one, has been designed to be a home-from-home for babies and their families, and it is hoped it will help to set a standard for neonatal units across the UK.
Funded by NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, the neonatal unit will provide an additional 21 cots at QMC, taking the total to 38. The overall footprint of the site has increased from 500m² to 2000m².
Key features of the NICU include larger cot bays, providing more space for families when visiting and staying with their babies; glass screening between bays to provide acoustic barriers and privacy; several retractable glass dividers for families with twins and triplets; family accommodation with kitchen and lounge areas for those staying overnight; and two play areas so that siblings have their own space to play.
In a first for an NUH neonatal unit, a dedicated bereavement suite has been introduced, providing families with a calm and peaceful environment during a very difficult time in their lives. Families can stay for as long as they need.
State-of-the-art facilities for staff on the unit include a specialised treatment room, Mindray monitors to record vital signs, and pendants to keep medical equipment off the floor, creating more care space.
NUH’s Chief Executive Officer, Anthony May, said: “The redesign and expansion of our neonatal services has been almost 20 years in the planning and was only made possible with the funding we received in 2022 from NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care.
“This funding provided us with a rare and exciting opportunity to design a neonatal unit that not only meets the needs of our families but also provides our highly skilled neonatal staff with a working environment they deserve, both now and in the future.
“The unit will make a huge difference to the 800 premature babies we support here at NUH every year and is already attracting interest from national neonatal teams. Thanks to the many people who have played a part in its design and creation, we have a facility we can justifiably be proud of.”
The limited size of the old QMC unit meant that over 100 babies requiring specialist care had to be transferred out of the area each year. By increasing the capacity at the QMC, the smallest and sickest newborn babies from across the East Midlands can now be cared for in the best location and with the right resources.
Programme Director, Jenni Twinn, who led the delivery of the neonatal unit, explained that a huge amount of thought went into the design.
She said: “We have been on an incredible journey. When we first set out on this project, we wanted to do things a bit differently, to provide a unit that is exactly what our families and staff need. We are confident we have achieved this and, in doing so, we have created a real home-from-home.
“Everything has been carefully thought out, from the soothing colours and furniture used to provide a comforting feel to installing the latest state-of-the-art technology that will enhance the experience of both families and staff. It is this attention to detail that sets this unit apart and which will really make a difference to all those involved.
“This would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of so many people who committed to making this beautiful unit a reality.”
To ensure the cot numbers are increased in the safest way possible, the NICU will not be expanding the number of cots in use until the new year.
As a result of the new facility, the QMC will become NUH’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, while the neonatal unit at City Hospital will become a Local Neonatal Unit – where babies can continue to receive intensive care for up to 48 hours before being transferred to the QMC for longer-term care, if needed.
Dr Lleona Lee, consultant neonatologist and NUH’s Clinical Lead for the redesign, added: “I know that staff are really excited to be moving to the new unit, and we have had some lovely feedback from the staff who have visited. We are looking forward to providing our best care for our patients and families in our purpose-built facility.
“We have long recognised the need to provide more cots for those babies who need our specialist care, as previously, too many were sent out of the area to receive their care. The new unit will have a significant positive impact on the lives and futures of the neonatal babies we care for, as well as the staff who work within it.”
Nottingham Hospitals Charity has provided more than £322,000 in fundraising support as part of their Big Appeal to help fund some of the enhancements included in the neonatal unit to help it feel like a home-from-home. This includes frosted glass partition screens for the bays, children’s play areas, and televisions for the family rooms.
Nigel Gregory, Chief Executive of Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said: “Thanks to all those who have generously donated to our Big Appeal, we are delighted to have been able to fund some of the special touches, home comforts, and additional equipment that will help make this new neonatal unit a home-from-home for babies and families.
“With poorly babies and their families at the forefront of our minds, we have funded added extras such as glazed screens between bays to allow families to have space and privacy with their babies, welcoming wall art in the entrance to help visitors feel at home when entering the unit, and comfortable furniture and play equipment for siblings visiting their baby brothers and sisters. I’d like to thank everyone who has donated to make this possible. It will make a real difference to families who may be spending weeks or even months on the unit.”
Case Study: Premature Twins Inspire Homebase Worker to Become Neonatal Nurse
A former Homebase manager whose twin babies were born early and needed neonatal care has shared how his experiences inspired him to become a neonatal nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals.
Paul Farmer, from Nottingham, explained how his son, Ashley, spent several days on the Neonatal Unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre as he was too small and weighed just 1.78 kg.
Both Ashley and his twin sister, Elise, were born prematurely at 35 weeks. While Ashley was in the neonatal unit, Elise had an infection and remained on the postnatal ward.
Paul explained that he found the neonatal unit fascinating, and as a result, he began to rethink his career.
He said: “I didn’t find the neonatal unit scary – for me, as a new parent who had never held a baby before, that was the scary bit. It was a bit of a whirlwind.
“As an outsider, the level of care and support that the staff on the unit were giving to families was overpowering, and I was intrigued by the equipment that they were using.
“So I started training as an adult nurse with the aim of working in neonates.”
Paul began his training in 2010 and, three years later, qualified as a nurse. He worked as an adult nurse for seven months before transferring to his dream job on the neonatal unit, which was everything he hoped it would be.
He said: “Working on Neonates is a privilege, particularly supporting families through their journey.
“Having been a parent of a neonatal baby, I can see it from the parents’ point of view, and being a male nurse, I can have an impact on the dads who often get forgotten about.”
Elise and Ashley recently celebrated their 19th birthday in November, and as Paul and the neonatal team prepare to move to the new expanded unit at QMC, he has taken the opportunity to reflect on how the service has changed in the last 20 years.
Paul explained: “The way the units work hasn’t changed a huge amount, but there have been big advances in technology and the family care we provide has moved forward.
“We can now care for babies born at 22 weeks, whereas when I joined it was 24 weeks. The incubators and monitors have changed, and we have tools such as VCreate, which is a secure online app for parents where we can share videos and photos of their babies with them at any time of day or night if they aren’t able to be by their baby’s side.
“And of course, the nursing teams have changed, and the junior doctors are now consultants.”
One of the greatest changes of all is about to come – the new Neonatal Unit at the QMC – which Paul and his colleagues are looking forward to moving to.
Paul said: “The old unit wasn’t designed to be a neonatal unit, and it was small for families and staff.
“The new unit is absolutely amazing. The team have looked at neonatal units from across the country, taken the best features, and put them into one unit which will take us into the future.”
