Bliss report on neonatal services in the UK

Bliss, the national charity dedicated to the needs of premature and sick children, has received evidence from neonatal units, neonatal transport services and parents across the country about the state of neonatal care in England in 2015.

Their findings reveal ‘a system in trouble’, with a significant shortage of nurses, doctors and other professionals needed to deliver safe and high-quality care to premature and sick babies. “The dedicated, hard-working staff at neonatal units across the country are being stretched to breaking point – putting babies safety and survival at risk and impacting their long-term development”.

Neonatal services in the UK

The Bliss findings show that:

• 2,140 more nurses are needed to care for babies in England – three quarters of this shortage is because there is ‘not enough funding from the Government’.
• 1 in 3 neonatal care units do not have enough specialist nurses.
• More than 850 babies were transferred between hospitals last year because there was not enough space or staff at the unit they were currently in. Over 100 of these babies were ventilated.
• 70 per cent of intensive care units are consistently caring for more babies than is considered safe.
• Nearly a third of units can offer no psychological support to families.