According to the BBC, £1.7 million has been invested in a new specialist transport service so babies can be quickly and safely transported to the appropriate unit after a review of the nine primary care trusts in the East Midlands identified areas for improvement.
Around 5,500 premature and sick babies require special attention and this investment will ensure that not only are the specialist hospitals at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and Leicester Royal Infirmary able to maintain their high standards of care, it will also mean that other neonatal units in the region are able to care for babies according to their needs and that the children can be moved from unit to unit much more easily, depending on the severity of their condition.
This means that there should be a reduction in the number of infants unable to gain access to the appropriate equipment and treatment where required and health bosses are particularly pleased that it will put less of a strain on their resources.
Dr Andy Leslie, nurse consultant for the neonatal transport service said “The investment in transport means that we will be able to transfer babies between hospitals without taking away nurses and doctors from the neonatal units where they are needed to provide care”.
This is a shrewd investment of funds and shows that there are other aspects to ensuring high standards of care than those which fall purely within the remit of providing top quality equipment and treatment. By investing in this service, health bosses have moved to increase the speed with which those who require it can gain access to that treatment and it is only going to improve the chances of the infants that do experience complications following their birth if they can be moved to a specialist unit as quickly as possible.
In addition, the lack of necessity to take doctors and nurses away from the jobs they are doing will mean greater continuity of care and ensure that the chances of mistakes being made which might cause an infant injury are greatly reduced.