The heartbreaking scenario which NHS chiefs say won’t be repeated when city has children’s hospital
Splitting up mums and newborns will be a thing of the past
THE first time Sarah Crawley saw her baby son Theo he was in an incubator about to be put in an ambulance and moved to Glenfield Hospital.
But she could not go with him. Having just had a caesarean section, Sarah had to stay at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
It is a situation that medics, patients and parents hopefully will not be met with in the future, thanks to work starting on Leicester’s own children’s hospital.
Sarah said: “Theo needed emergency care, oxygen, and was put on life support. He wasn’t in a good way and so the clinical staff decided Theo needed to be taken to Glenfield Hospital, where the cardiology unit is.
“So, at two hours old, he was taken there in an ambulance. But because I had just had a caesarean section, I wasn’t able to go with him.
“The first time I got to see my baby was when I went up to the wards and he was there in the incubator with the ambulance staff, ready to go to Glenfield.
“It was a pretty difficult moment. You’ve just given birth and your newborn baby is going off to another hospital and about to undergo surgery and you can’t be there.”
Theo was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition, transposition of the great arteries (TGA) at Sarah’s 20-week scan.
When he was born in November, he needed specialist treatment that could not be provided at the infirmary, so the decision was made to move him.
Now aged 23 months, Theo is having six-monthly check-ups at Glenfield, but is otherwise doing well.
Sarah spoke of her experiences after a campaign to raise £7.5 million towards Leicester’s new Children’s Hospital kicked off.
The charity has already banked £4 million of the target but is appealing to the public to help it raise the remaining £3.5 million.
The first phase of the work has started, with footings being dug out at the rear of the Kensington Building – which will eventually be transformed into a £35 million standalone children’s hospital.
Consultant paediatrician Chris Wighton said: “The East Midlands is the only region in the country that doesn’t have a dedicated children’s hospital.
“I don’t think many people in Leicester realise that we do have a children’s hospital, they just see the children’s wards as part of the overall make up because they’re all over our sites. The new hospital will bring all of children’s services together in one building and will make a huge difference for patients, their families and staff.”
The current set up sees children’s wards across the Leicester Royal Infirmary site with the heart centre at Glenfield.
The East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre (EMCHC) must relocate to the infirmary alongside other children’s services by 2020 to meet the standards set by NHS England when the service was saved from the axe following a long campaign by service users, staff and members of the public.
Leicester’s Hospitals has set aside £14.1 million of capital cash to pay for the move. The £7.5 million raised by the hospital will pay for parents rooms, extra equipment and decorating the wards.
The overall project, which has a price tag of £35 million, is part of a major £367 million plan to transform Leicester’s hospitals.
To sign up for a charity challenge, or donate, visit the website leicesterhospitalscharity.org.uk/dothemproud.