Maternity and Neonatal Redesign Programme

     

Through the Maternity and Neonatal Redesign Programme, we are taking forward plans to expand our neonatal facilities at the Queen’s Medical Centre.  The construction of the new neonatal unit which is scheduled to begin in September 2023 will take around 16 months and we hope to move into the new expanded unit in December 2024.  This will give us 21 more cots, taking the total number to 38, and will create a better working environment for our staff and more space and privacy for families.

Nottingham University Hospitals provides care for premature babies and their families at both the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital, and we are the main neonatal intensive care unit for this part of the East Midlands.  At the moment, pregnant women who should be able to access neonatal care for their babies at Nottingham, and some babies who are born prematurely, have to be transferred to other hospitals in the East Midlands or even further afield because we do not have enough available cots locally.  Thanks to this expansion programme, that situation will be much less likely in the future.

The expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Queen’s Medical Centre will include intensive, high dependency and special care cots.  The neonatal service at City Hospital will become what is known as a ‘Local Neonatal Unit’ (LNU), where babies can be supported in intensive care for up to 48 hours, before being transferred to the Queen’s Medical Centre for longer term care if needed.

To enable the expansion of the QMC neonatal unit, the current unit will temporarily move to within the Nottingham’s Children Hospital Surgical Unit (NCHSU) on B floor in West Block from mid-September 2023.   We are currently undertaking building works to ensure that NCHSU has the necessary requirements to allow the neonatal unit to continue to give the same level of medical and surgical neonatal intensive care to the babies of Nottingham and out network hospitals. 

The temporary relocation of the QMC neonatal unit will not affect the number of cots we have available for babies booked in within Nottingham or those babies in the East Midlands requiring neonatal intensive care.  In addition, parents will continue to be welcome on the unit at any time.

A timeline of the programme can be seen below:

Update for patients and the public on the Maternity and Neonatal Redesign

In September 2023, construction will begin to expand the neonatal unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre. Currently there is not enough capacity across both QMC and City Hospital neonatal units to care for the babies in Nottingham and babies within the region who require specialist intensive care delivered in Nottingham. This expansion, known as the Maternity and Neonatal Redesign, will allow these babies to remain in Nottingham without needing to be transferred to other neonatal units.

Whilst the new expanded neonatal unit is under construction, the current neonatal unit will be situated within the Nottingham Children’s Hospital Surgical Unit (NCHSU) on B floor in West Block. This is just beyond the main entrance, café and shop area. The NCHSU has the necessary environment to allow the neonatal unit to continue to give the same level of medical and surgical neonatal intensive care to the babies of Nottingham and our network hospitals. Construction of the expanded unit will take around 16 months and aims to be completed in December 2024.

To prepare the NCHSU space for the neonatal unit, the children’s surgical team and services have moved to new locations on QMC campus and will continue to offer their usual level of service and care.

Construction work will take place in NCHSU in preparation for the neonatal unit to move in and this work will be completed in September 2023. The move of the neonatal unit will not affect the number of cots we have available to care for babies requiring neonatal intensive care in Nottingham and in the East Midlands and parents will continue to be welcome on the unit at any time.

There will be updated signage to direct families to the new location of the neonatal unit. Volunteer services are present at our main reception to offer directions and maps will also be available. We have also created a helpful walkthrough video to show visitors how to find the new location of the neonatal unit.

The temporary move of the QMC neonatal unit will not affect how the neonatal unit at the City Hospital works, which will continue to offer medical intensive care to babies in Nottingham and within our network of hospitals.