Infant Journal
for neonatal and paediatric healthcare professionals

North Wales babies benefit from new transport equipment

As part of the Sub Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Centre development at Glan Clwyd Hospital, the North Wales Cymru Inter-Hospital Acute Neonatal Transfer Service, which transports babies between hospitals in North Wales, has taken delivery of a new state-of-the-art transport system.

The equipment, funded by Welsh Government, cost £114,000 to develop and is described as a 'neonatal intensive care unit on wheels'. It was built by a dedicated team of engineers from the electro biomedical engineering (EBME) department at Glan Clwyd Hospital.

The equipment will be used by the North Wales Neonatal Transport Team, which consists of neonatal consultants, advanced neonatal nurse practitioners and experienced neonatal nurses, who work very closely with staff from the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust (WAST) which provides a dedicated neonatal ambulance and driver.

Dr Tarek El-Aalem, Consultant Neonatologist and Clinical Lead for Neonatal Transport, said: "We're thrilled to have taken delivery of this purpose built neonatal transport system which will be used to transfer very sick babies between hospitals in North Wales. The unit includes an incubator as well as nitric oxide and an active cooling system. With this equipment we will be able to resuscitate and stabilise babies en route until they reach the specialist unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital".

Mandy Cooke, Neonatal Services Manager for North Wales, added: "The development of this equipment has been a wonderful team effort and included support from the dedicated drivers from WAST, our team from EBME and all the hard working doctors, nurses and administrative staff who help run the neonatal transport service in North Wales."

Staff on the transport team welcome the latest equipment.


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Glan Clwyd District General Hospital