A new home for the Whipps Cross Neonatal team
The Whipps Cross Hospital Neonatal Unit (NNU) has moved into a new refurbished maternity ward.
The NNU, based in the Maternity Building, benefited from a complete £1.2m remodelling and refurbishment as part of the £9m Barts Charity Funded grant.
The NNU had not been touched since it was built in the 1970s.
The CQC rated NNU services Good in its most recent inspection, but noted that the estate was tired and in need of significant improvement. Whipps Cross staff continued to provide outstanding care despite the tired estate.
The building works in the NNU started in August 2020, and to ensure the safety of the babies and effective service delivery, the Unit was decanted to the main hospital building. This in itself was a large operation.
We would like to sincerely thank our teams for their resilience during this time. Despite Covid-19 and the delays in the building and manufacturing supply chain, the contractors Forest Gate Construction completed the work on time and without any major issues.
The new ward provides a truly transformed physical environment for our babies, their families and our staff.
We are now able to provide three double rooms with ensuite for the parents to stay on site and stay with their babies before discharge, we have also created a ‘family area’ with lounge and kitchen areas, including own amenities. The nursery areas have been completely remodelled, with open and modern spaces for each incubator and enough space and equipment for parents to be with their babies.
The department moved back into their new areas on Tuesday 12 January 2021, leaving Mary Ward to be returned to colleagues in adult services.
All our teams within Women and Children’s Services are extremely happy that we are near to the end of the 2 year building programme.
"With exceptional spirit the team made the move early on Tuesday morning, moving 8 little people by 11:00 o’clock," said Claire Burden, Whipps Cross Hospital Deputy Chief Executive.
"The facility is simply beautiful and a credit to the project team for creating the space."
We are a couple of weeks from the final works in the labour ward to be finished on Tuesday 26 January 2021, and by the beginning of February 2021, we will have completed the transformation of 6 clinical areas across our Women and Children’s Services.
"Thank you to all staff and contractors for working together to deliver this outstanding new facility – this has been a huge team effort," said Rob Speight, Whipps Cross Hospital Director Estates & Facilities.
"It is great that we now have fabulous new facilities that are almost as good as our staff."
A very big thank you to Barts Charity for their generous grant and their continued support for Whipps Cross Hospital.
We know that our new facilities will be life changing for our patients and their families.
Kirsty Webb-Wood
Project Director for the Maternity Transformation scheme
Divisional Manager, Women and Children’s Division, Including Breast Services
Operational Lead for the Women’s Health Clinical Board
Barts Health NHS Trust
Whipps Cross Hospital