There are approximately 43,000 births in the Yorkshire Neonatal Network per year that potentially need transportation to find the most suitable cot for the infant's need.

The Yorkshire Neonatal Transport Service is a dedicated transfer service which co-ordinates and finds cots for newborn babies, depending on their clinical need, and transports them safely to the most appropriate receiving unit.

Since January 2002 funding has been in place for the "Yorkshire Neonatal Transport Service" (YNTS) and a regionally funded "Yorkshire Neonatal Cot Bureau" (YNCB).  Both services are in place at the Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT).  The funding has enabled:

• the appointment of a lead consultant for neonatal transport (Dr Cath Harrison)
• the appointment of a lead sister for neonatal transport (Sr Claire Harness)
• 24 hour availability of supernumerary nurses to provide the transfers needed across the region
• a fully staffed YNCB.

Further information can be found in the 2006/2007 annual report.

Operating Service

The YNTS routinely moves the following babies:

1. All ventilated babies to and from Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital neonatal units from hospitals within the YNN.
2. All term ventilated babies (up to 28 days post term) with suspected/confirmed cardiac conditions to the Paediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Ward 4, Leeds General Infirmary.
3. All non ventilated babies between any unit in the YNN to any other unit in the YNN.
4. Out of region into or out of any YNN unit following discussion with the Transport Team.
5. Non ventilated cardiac babies from any YNN unit into Ward 10, LGI following discussion with the Transport Team.

It is not possible to guarantee the availability of a transport nurse nor SpR 100% of the time due to the normal staff issues affecting NHS service delivery i.e. unexpected sickness etc. however the transport team works hard in conjunction with the Leeds NICU nursing establishment to ensure continuous availability of a transport nurse whenever possible.

For full up to date information please refer to the Operating Service Document and flow chart on How to find a bed.

Staffing

Medical cover is taken from the middle grade rota at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust.  This is not supernumerary or funded cover, therefore, if an acute transport (ventilated baby) is required this can only occur if LTHT has adequate medical cover to not only support the transport but continue adequate cover at the base unit.

Nursing - there is a pool of approximately 30 transport competent nurses who rotate in from the neonatal service to the Transport Team to enable maintenance of skills.  There are 2 nurses available during the day and one at night (see Operating Service for full details).

 Link nurse group 

This was set up in September 2005 and consists of a link nurse in each unit in the Network.

The group meets several times a year and through the group a network wide transport letter has been developed.  Discussions between members have proved useful for informing the team of its strengths and areas where improvements could be made.  The group is vital for improved communication throughout the Network and to enable the Transport Team to have a contact person for each unit. The group facilitates best practice with information sharing.

Guidelines

The following guidelines have been developed and are operational:

Acute Transport of Neonates

Non Acute Transport of Neonates

Mothers Travelling in Ambulances

Stabilisation

Surgical Transfer

Nurse Led CPAP Transfers

Transfer Handbook

Clinical Governance

• Weekly review every transport  with lead nurse and consultant
• Documentation regularly reviewed and updated
• Continuous  data collation to allow local and national comparison (see the Annual Report for further details)
• Audits
  • Ongoing projects
  • Service user satisfaction
  • Parental satisfaction
  • Temperature during transportation
• Monitoring adverse events
• Training
  • Medical
    • Competencies
      • Equipment
      • Retrieval
    • “Buddying” system
  • Nursing

Transport Audit Forms

• Transport Team Information & Audit Form
• Transport Telephone Audit Form REFERRING UNIT
• Transport Telephone Audit Form RECEIVING UNIT

Yorkshire Neonatal Cot Bureau

The Yorkshire Neonatal Cot Bureau is a robust, 365 day a year, service that has gone from strength to strength since

it was set up in 2002.  Systems have been developed to ensure that cot status is available to health professionals

24 hours a day.  Please see the Cot Bureau web page for further details.

Feedback

Our ultimate goal is to provide a high quality service across the Yorkshire region and to do so we need your help and support.  We also rely on honest, constructive feedback from the referring hospital to the Transport Team and vice versa.  Please do not hesitate to contact the Transport Team through the Neonatal Unit at Leeds General Infirmary if you have any comments or concerns

Telephone number 0113 3927166

CONTACT THE TRANSPORT TEAM

0113 3927166

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Need to find a bed?

Click on the flow chart for information.

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COT BUREAU

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NEWS

Visit the Network News page for an update on the Combined Neonatal and Paediatric Critical Care Transport System for Yorkshire and the Humber.

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Useful documents:

OPERATING SERVICE

GUIDELINES

ANNUAL REPORT