'Cot locator' to save sick babies

The charity Bliss hopes the new system will make a difference

A system to help doctors find the nearest hospital cot for critically ill newborn babies has been launched.

The government-funded computer program shows which hospitals in England have cots available at any given time.

Until now, staff have had to call various hospitals to hunt for a cot, which costs time and potentially lives.

Data suggests three babies a day are transferred between hospitals because of staffing and cot shortages, some having to travel hundreds of miles.

Lives at risk

The charity Bliss hopes the new system will make a difference.

In the UK, one in eight babies needs to be looked after in a neonatal unit at some point, and about 17,000 babies a year will require intensive care.

This is mostly due to social trends, such as women giving birth later in life, IVF pregnancies boosting the number of multiple births and more teenage mothers - but it is also a consequence of medical advances that mean more premature babies survive.

In England, NHS neonatal services are divided into 24 regional networks, each having centres of excellence to care for very sick babies.

This new system will hopefully be very simple to use and will help Andy Cole of Bliss Our babies were moved 100 miles

Hospitals aim to ensure that at least 95% of ill newborn babies are treated within their local network.

But when cots are not available locally, babies have to be sent elsewhere, sometimes hundreds of miles away.

Andy Cole of Bliss said hospitals were currently failing to hit the 95% figure.

"This new system will hopefully be very simple to use and will help," he said.

While the new system should speed up the process of finding spare cots, families may still have to travel very long distances to get the care they need, he warned.

In some cases this is because the expert care required, such as rare types of surgery, is only available at one particular centre in the country.

Supply and demand

But other times it is simply because there is no cot available at a local hospital, he explained.

"We don't know the exact numbers because they are not recorded, but we know from case studies and examples that it happens on a regular basis," he said.

He said that if the new system did help it should be rolled out to cover the whole of the UK.

Health minister Ivan Lewis, said: "On the occasions when a suitable cot is needed outside of the local network, a call to the National Neonatal Cot Locator will provide immediate up-to-date information about more distant options, making sure that these transfers can happen quickly, are effectively planned and can go as smoothly as possible.

"This will make a real difference to families and professionals seeking to ensure that babies and parents get the best possible care in usually very challenging circumstances."

Professor Neil Marlow, of Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, said sometimes his colleagues had to phone 20 units to find a space for a baby.

"I think this will be really helpful. Also, as a secondary benefit, we will be able, for the first time, to have a look at how often cots are closed throughout the UK."