Baby units stretched to breaking point

Units for sick and premature babies have been stretched more than ever in the past year, a charity claims. Baby care charity Bliss says its survey of 195 neonatal units across the country revealed that a lack of resources and staff means units are now at breaking point. Only a handful of units met the minimum nursing levels, resulting in some being forced to refuse new admissions for considerable periods of time. The survey showed that units have to turn away people for an average of two weeks in a six month period. Ten per cent said they closed their doors for eight weeks or more every six months. This in turn leads to parents having to travel longer distances to find an available unit and can result in twins and triplets needing special care being separated; 35 per cent of these babies were found to parted in this way. One in eight of the most specialist units operated at an average occupancy of 100 per cent or more for a whole year, but half of these units have half or less of the minimum staffing levels. Bliss says that despite an increase of new nurses, 2,600 more are needed to meet recommended standards. Until this is reached the charity warns staff morale will remain low and parents who are already anxious about their children will face extra stress. Bliss chief executive Andy Cole said: "Bliss is concerned that the government still gives less priority to intensive care for babies than for adults and children, even though all the evidence points to a neonatal service that is on the brink of collapse. 'The Department of Health's recent commitment to provide extra midwives is a step in the right direction for maternity services. We now need to see the same commitment to ensuring there are adequate numbers of trained neonatal nurses for those babies born sick or premature.'