Specialist Neonatal Transport Service Reaches 100 Emergency Referrals, UK

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 15 Sep 2008 - 4:00 PST

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A Bristol-based emergency service that transports sick, newborn babies between hospitals for specialist care has just completed its 100th emergency retrieval.

Bristol's NEST (Newborn Emergency Stabilisation and Transfer) team is based at the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust's neonatal intensive care unit at St Michael's Hospital in Southwell Street. The NEST team responds to emergency calls regarding sick newborn babies and once they have been stabilised, transports them promptly and safely between neonatal units and hospitals across the south-west.

The service is for all newborn babies who need either emergency or routine transport within the Western Neonatal Network area, including St Michael's and Southmead hospitals in Bristol; hospitals in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Swindon, Bath, Taunton, Yeovil and Weston-super-Mare; and some cases from hospitals in Devon and Cornwall. It is jointly funded by the Primary Care Trusts within the Western Neonatal Network and by University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. The dedicated neonatal ambulance service is provided by Bristol Ambulance EMS.

NEST has transported more than 230 babies since it was established in April this year and has just responded to its 100th emergency referral.

Dr James Tooley, Consultant in Neonatal Medicine for the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the Lead Consultant for NEST, says: "Before we introduced this service the arrangements for transferring newborn babies between hospitals were ad hoc and took up several hours of valuable staff time every day locating trained staff and ambulance crews to undertake this work.

"The new service is a great improvement because it is a fully funded, dedicated emergency service and it is therefore much quicker, safer and more reliable."

The majority of the sick newborn infants are transferred into one of the two neonatal units in Bristol (St Michael's for general/cardiac surgery as well as specialist medical care, and Southmead for Neurosurgery and specialist medical care). Around 30 per cent of the emergency referrals carried out so far were for newborn babies who needed general surgery. A further 30 per cent of emergency transports were babies who needed advanced medical treatment not available in local district general hospitals. Fifteen per cent of babies were transferred for brain cooling treatment after birth asphyxia and a further 15 per cent were transferred for cardiac treatment/operations.

The service also 'repatriates' babies back to their local units after they have undergone specialist treatment to allow for care closer to home.

Dr Tooley adds: "We have had very positive feedback from parents and hospital staff across the region. In fact, some parents have been so grateful for the service that they have donated large sums of money, which we are delighted to accept into our charitable foundation. These donations will be used to buy new equipment for the team."

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust