‘Neonatal units on the up but still work to do’
HOSPITAL units which care for the most premature babies in Wales are improving “on almost every single measure”.
But a leading neonatal expert has stressed that concerns remain over some aspects of care.
A new report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) shows improvements in care for pre-term babies in England, Scotland and Wales.
It also reveals variations in service delivery, indicating many babies still do not get the care they need.
Some 98% per cent of neonatal units in the three countries responded to the audit, which this year assessed the care given to nearly 100,000 babies.
In the recent past staff shortages in Wales’ neonatal units have promoted fears over whether or not they can meet national standards.
In Wales, the report highlights a range of improvements, including:
The number of babies born at less than 32 weeks whose temperature is recorded within an hour of admission within the recommended range of 36.5-37.5°C, increased from 56% in 2015, to 67% last year.
Reporting of data from a two-year follow-up check for babies born at below 30 weeks rose from 31% to 60%.
Dr Roshan Adappa, RCPCH Wales representative on the National Neonatal Audit Programme report (NNAP) audit, said: “Wales has done better in almost every single NNAP audit outcome measure and data compliance in 2016 when compared to 2015.
“The most improvement has been seen in temperature on admission for the most premature babies being within the recommended target range and an improvement in twoyear developmental outcome reporting for very premature babies.”
He added: “Measures that have shown improvement but in which Wales can do much better are the proportion of babies receiving any of their own mother’s milk on discharge and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening of the eyes of premature babies.”
Wales was the only neonatal network area last year where fewer than 90% of babies had on-time screening for ROP recorded, though such screening in Wales improved from 86% in 2015 to 88% in 2016.
In Wales last year only half (51%) of babies born at less than 33 weeks were receiving any of their own mother’s milk at the point of discharge home from a neonatal unit. The average is 59%.
Dr Sam Oddie, consultant neonatologist and the NNAP clinical lead, said: “We’re seeing overall improvements in many areas, which is obviously really encouraging.
“However, we know that 40% of babies don’t have any clinical information at all recorded about their health and development at two years. It simply isn’t good enough.”