Neonatology

West London Children's Healthcare

Locations

Contact

Outpatients appointments: 020 3313 4727

Visitor Information

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About

We provide care for extremely pre-term babies (less than 27 weeks’ gestation) and more mature babies at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital. We also treat newborn babies with complex medical needs, including cardiac and neurological problems, as well as newborn babies with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy and retinopathy of prematurity.

We treat extremely pre-term babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital. More mature babies born above 27 weeks’ gestation are cared for at St Mary’s Hospital in our local neonatal unit. Both neonatal units provide cooling therapy for term babies with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy.

Each year more than 850 babies are admitted to our two neonatal units, making us one of the largest neonatal services in the UK. Our areas of expertise include:

management of extremely pre-term infants
respiratory care and early extubation
neonatal MRI scanner on the neonatal unit
human milk bank based at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital

We have close links with the fetal medicine unit, clinical genetics and the children’s ambulatory unit at Hammersmith Hospital, which provides an area for neonatal review and assessment. Our two neonatal units contribute to the National Neonatal Audit Programme (NNAP). We are also members of the Vermont-Oxford Network (VON), an international alliance of more than 900 neonatal units. We use data submitted to VON to benchmark our outcomes against neonatal units both in the UK and internationally.

Conditions and treatments

Some of our most common treatments for extremely pre-term babies and newborn babies include:

all types of ventilation
hypothermia treatment (cooling therapy)
nitric oxide
laser treatment for retinopathy of prematurity

Additional information

Clinical trials and research

Research on the neonatal units is at the forefront of innovative neonatal care and has the potential to improve the quality of care for all our babies. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London are together one of the UK’s first academic health science centres. We are running a number of research studies within neonatology and parents will be offered the opportunity to participate. The main focus of the research is brain development and neuroprotection. Other interests include gastrointestinal microbiota, neonatal cardiology and haematology. Further information on neonatal research is available in the research section of our website.

Education and elective placements

The neonatology division runs an extensive post-graduate educational programme. The Resuscitation Council UK’s Newborn Life Support (NLS) courses are run six times a year and all staff are encouraged to complete this training. We offer elective placement to students aspiring to take on medical training and to foreign medical students. Both the neonatal units provide weekly in-house neonatal simulation training.

Further online resources

Clinics

Our neonatology service is managed by a team of consultants and specialists.

The success of our neonatal units is down to a highly skilled, multidisciplinary team led by 11 consultants, a senior nurse and a lead nurse, with specialist input from consultants in neonatal neurology and perinatal cardiology. We have a large team of junior doctors and nurses working across both our neonatal units.

The service is supported by skilled therapists in clinical psychology, speech and language therapy, dietetics, physiotherapy and developmental care. A dedicated neonatal discharge and liaison team helps to coordinate the discharge process. They aid a smooth and timely discharge home for vulnerable and high-risk babies, and provide continuing support in the community.

Meet the team

Consultants

Other specialists

Margot Bril, matron (neonatal unit)
Sue Meads, matron (Winnicot baby unit)
Denis Harrington, risk and audit nurse
Adele Mynard, clinical nurse educator
Rosie Hurlston, clinical psychologist
Becky Armstrong, clinical psychologist
Annie Aloysius, speech and language therapist
Kristy O’Connor, dietitian
Caroline King, dietitian
Beverley Hicks, developmental care lead
Abimbola Sanu, neonatal pharmacist
Gillian Weaver, milk bank manager

Patient information

Information for parents and visitors of our neonatal units.

Before your appointment

Our clinic sees patients very promptly. Children should be accompanied by a parent or caregiver, but any family member with active TB should not come into the paediatric outpatients. If you have any questions about this please call and talk to the our TB clinical nurse specialist ahead of time.

Please bring all current medications to your appointment.

During your appointment

When you check-in at the main reception in paediatric outpatients, all children will be weighed and measured for clinic.

Information for parents and visitors

Having a baby admitted to a neonatal unit is often an unexpected and unsettling experience for parents. When babies are admitted to us, we aim to help parents feel welcome, and to provide reassurance and information. You will be given a copy of our information pack, which includes our hand-washing and visiting guidelines, and the ‘BLISS Parent Information Guide’ about having a premature or sick baby. We will also tell you about the neonatal unit and update you on your baby’s condition.

Visiting policy

All the babies cared for on the neonatal unit are very susceptible to infections and need to be protected. Influenza and other viruses can cause significant problems for sick or vulnerable babies. The best way to reduce the risk of any infection reaching the neonatal unit, and to prevent the babies catching them, is to limit the number of visitors coming into the neonatal unit. Parents have unrestricted access to the neonatal unit, but please make sure to read our notices detailing the start date and content of our winter visiting policy.

Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital neonatal unit

Main reception: 020 3313 5158
Intensive care unit: 020 3313 3174
Special care unit: 020 3313 3908

St Mary’s Hospital neonatal unit

Main reception: 020 3312 1103
Intensive care unit: 020 3312 6294
Special care unit: 020 3312 5059

For questions about neonatal follow-up clinic appointments once your baby has been discharged contact our neonatal secretaries on 020 3313 5369 or by fax 020 3313 1122.

Patient information leaflets

Patient information from other sources

Referrals

Find out how to refer patients to our neonatology service.

GP

To refer to the neonatology service or ask advice please contact us via our single point of contact neonatal phone number: 020 3313 3622.

The single point of contact coordinates in-utero and postnatal/ex-utero referrals to Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea and St Mary's hospitals. This phone number reaches the neonatal bleep-carrier, who will then manage the process to:

ensure rapid decision about whether the referral can be accepted or not
arrange for accepted referrals to be directed to the correct service within the Trust