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At St George’s we provide specialist care for the smallest and sickest babies, including those that are born prematurely and those that require surgery. We are the regional centre for the South West London Neonatal Network. Our network has 5 hospitals providing maternity and newborn services. St George’s has a large specialist  fetal medicine unit, and many women with complex pregnancies are referred to us for expert care. We provide the majority of intensive care for newborn babies in south west London as well as providing some specialist services for neighbouring networks, covering a large geographical area extending down to the south coast.  Once babies no longer require specialist care at St George’s, we move them to a neonatal unit at one of our network hospitals so that families can be closer to home, and to allow us to take new babies that require our specialist services.

What we offer:

  • An integrated neonatal unit where babies receive specialist medical and surgical intensive care.
  • 40 cots (12 intensive care, 12 High dependency care and 16 Special care).
  • 4 parent bedrooms where parents can stay on the unit – these are allocated depending on need, and are also used for parents to stay with their baby for 1 or 2 nights before going home.
  • Facilities in the hospital grounds where parents who live far away can stay (Ronald McDonald House).
  • Specialist multi-professional paediatric surgical services – including general surgery, ENT, neurosurgery, urology, and a specialist spina bifida service.
  • Highly trained nurses, including a surgical nurse specialist and a team of Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners. We have one of the lowest rates of agency staff use in London.
  • Paediatric infectious diseases service – we are one of 3 centres in the UK designated to look after children with HIV.
  • Close links with the Royal Brompton Hospital for the management of babies with heart problems, including weekly visits from a fetal cardiologist.
  • Weekly eye-checks for babies at risk of retinopathy of prematurity by doctors from Moorfields Eye Hospital,  and facilities for laser therapy.
  • Weekly neonatal follow-up clinic.
  • Specialist neonatal developmental clinic for babies born before 30 weeks gestation.
  • Community neonatal nursing team to support babies in the community discharged to Wandsworth from our unit.
  • Antenatal (before birth) counselling of prospective parents by appropriate healthcare professionals if problems are expected; this may include neonatologist, cardiologist, geneticist or surgeon alongside our fetal medicine colleagues.
  • monthly neonatal respiratory clinic for infants with chronic lung disease and congenital lung lesions
  • Specialist neonatal developmental clinic for babies born before 30 weeks gestation.
  • Community neonatal nursing team to support babies in the community discharged to Wandsworth.

Our clinics are designed to allow follow-up of babies discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit, and we are unable to accommodate direct referrals to outpatients.

Quality Measures

  • The survival rates for babies in the SW London Network are better than national averages.
  • The most recent national parent survey (Picker Institute, 2010) was favourable, and highlighted good communication with families and excellent communication and practice relating to infection control.
  • We have weekly team meetings where key people involved with the care of babies on the neonatal unit meet.  These include fetal medicine, surgical, perinatal, X-ray, and microbiology/infectious diseases meetings.
  • Grand Round – our consultant neonatologists do a joint weekly ward round to ensure that care is consistent and quality is maintained.
  • We regularly audit the quality of our care locally, and have 100% participation in the National Neonatal Audits to ensure quality standards are maintained.
  • We monitor and comply with relevant national standards.
  • We are on the same site as St George’s University, and have close links allowing us to provide excellent teaching and training of students and staff.
  • We have a specialist Breastfeeding Advisor and Discharge coordinator
  • An active program of simulation training involving nurses, midwives and doctors from different teams to help prepare staff for emergencies and unexpected events.
  • Support services for families, including a trained counsellor, and a family-centred care co-ordinator funded by First Touch.
  • Every year we produce a Unit Report (including mortality and morbidity figures for the unit) and a Governance Report.

meet_the_staff

Contact Details

Reception
020 8725 1936

Secretaries
Sandra McLennon
020 8725 3528

Neonatal sisters office
020 8725 1934

Family Care Coordinator
020 8725 6045

Neonatal Counsellor
020 8725 0033

Key links