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Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire officially opens New Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
The Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire has officially opened the new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham at a ribbon-cutting event held two days prior to International Women’s Day.
Costing £32million and designed to be a home-from-home for babies and their families, the NICU is the largest in the East Midlands in terms of cots and footprint.
The Lord Lieutenant, Veronica Picking, was welcomed onto the new unit by the Deputy Chair of Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), Clare Urmston, where she was introduced to the programme team and given a tour of the new facilities.
Leading the all-female core programme team, MNR Programme Director, Jenni Twinn said: “With the official opening of the new unit we are at the end of an incredible journey. From the beginning, as a programme team, we wanted to do things a bit differently and to provide a unit that is exactly what our families and staff need.
“From colour schemes and furniture to sink finishes and state-of-the-art technology no detail or design was left to chance, our babies, their families and our staff were always at the forefront of our decision making.
“I am so proud of what the team has achieved, we have delivered the programme on time and within budget. I am also grateful for the hard work and dedication of so many people both within and outside of NUH, who have helped to make this amazing unit a reality.”
One employee who has an extra special reason for celebrating this year’s International Women’s Day as well as the opening of the new neonatal unit, is NUH Neonatal Outreach Administrator, Nicola Hay.
Her daughter, Temperance, was on the original QMC neonatal unit as she was born prematurely on 8 March 2007, and thanks to the care and support provided, will be celebrating her 18th birthday on International Women’s Day.
It proved to be a second stay for Nicola’s family, as her first-born daughter, Hope, was also born prematurely in 1994, and spent the first weeks of her life on the same unit.
Nicola said: “Temperance was born at 32 weeks, and it was another extremely stressful time, with me being very poorly and my husband having to visit the neonatal unit to see a second baby in an incubator.
“With some amazing care, we were able to take Temperance home after a few weeks, and although she developed a bit slower in those first few years, we were grateful for every step. Like Hope, Temperance has thrived, and she is now looking to go to university this year.
“It seems so fitting that we will see the official opening of the new QMC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and then, two days later on International Women’s Day, my daughter turns 18.”
Dr Lleona Lee, consultant neonatologist and NUH’s Clinical lead for the redesign, added:
“The new unit has been a long time in the making and is something that we can really be proud of. Whilst often a difficult time, our families have access to home comforts to make their time with us more comfortable and a little bit easier.
“Providing our best care for our patients and their families is our number one priority and, with the increased capacity within the unit, we hope to provide the right care at the right time in the right place, and hope that we are able to keep more families together without the need to send out them of the area to receive their care. This will have a significant positive impact on the lives and futures of the neonatal babies that we care for.”
Nottingham Hospitals Charity have provided almost £340,000 in fundraising support as part of their Big Appeal to support some of the enhancements on the unit, helping it feel like a home from home.
Nigel Gregory, Chief Executive of Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said: “We were delighted to attend the official ribbon cutting for this fantastic unit, which is already making a huge difference to babies and their families during a difficult time. Thanks to everyone who has generously donated to our Big Appeal, we've been able to fund some of the special touches, home comforts and additional equipment that are making this new neonatal unit a home-from-home for the babies and families who will spend weeks or even months here.
"This includes 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, including our Big Appeal ambassador and England cricket legend Stuart Broad, and his mum Carole, who we were thrilled to have in attendance at the ribbon cutting."
The Nottingham Neonatal Service includes the Neonatal Unit at the QMC and the Neonatal Unit at the City Hospital. The City Hospital Neonatal Unit has now become a Local Neonatal Unit – where babies can continue to receive intensive care for a short period of time before being transferred to the QMC for longer-term care, if needed.