A surgical team working at Castle Hill Hospital is taking part in an international trial comparing two different forms of heart bypass technology.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has one of only two teams in the UK using a special bypass technique routinely to stop patients’ hearts so surgeons can carry out life-saving procedures.

Now, the team is taking part in a major global study with other countries including Greece, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, France and Israel to study how the technique affects 3,500 patients over the next three years.

Chief clinical perfusion scientist Lindsay McLean said: “We are the only trust in the UK apart from Plymouth to use this mini bypass technique. Of our five cardiac surgeons, four of them use the technique.

“Despite producing great results for our patients, it is still not widely accepted that this is a better way of bypass, with less impact on people than the conventional method of heart bypass.

“Taking part in this study with other teams across the world will allow us to collate a huge volume of evidence so we have a clear picture of the benefits.”

Perfusionists are highly skilled scientists playing vital roles in mainly open heart surgery. They use machines to keep oxygen flowing through the patient’s whole body while the lungs and heart have been halted deliberately to allow the surgeon to perform their life-saving work.

The scientists control equipment which breathes for the patient and circulates their blood, cleaning the blood and infusing it with red blood cells to boost recovery and reduce reliance on transplanted donor blood.

Most hospitals in the country use conventional cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to halt the patient’s heart. However, CPB can trigger a life-threatening condition known as severe inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), similar to sepsis, in some patients when their blood comes into contact with foreign bodies during surgery.

To prevent that risk, the Castle Hill team uses a technique called minimally invasive extracorporeal circulation (MIECC).

MIECC was developed in 2005 by perfusion scientists and bioengineers to minimizes side effects and reduce the need for donor blood, meaning the patient has an improved chance of a faster recovery from surgery.

The Hull trust is considered so skilled in the technique, its staff were invited to present two master classes by Heart Research UK last year.

Mr McLean said: “This is a great opportunity for Hull to showcase our work in the field.

“We are helping to lead the way on techniques used during open heart surgery and that can only be good news for our patients now and those who will come to us in the future.”

A team of consultants, nurses, midwives and health care professionals saved two women and their babies within two days after they both developed the same rare, life-threatening complication.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust brought together the highly skilled, multi-disciplinary teams of 25 health professionals to save the mothers with morbidly adherent placenta, a life-threatening emergency which can cause women to bleed to death.

Consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician Uma Rajesh said: “We normally see two to four cases a year but it is extremely rare to do two in two days.

“Both operations were planned around two or three weeks apart but one of the women became an emergency and we just had to do it.

“We brought the whole team together and everyone had a part to play. At one time, we had nine consultants in the operating theatre.

“Both operations went well, with both mothers and their babies doing well.”

Hull Women and Children’s Hospital

In pregnancy, the placenta attaches itself to the uterine wall to nourish the baby through the umbilical cord. It then detaches from the uterus after the baby is born.

However, in morbidly adherent placenta, the placenta grows too deeply into the wall of the uterus and cannot detach itself at childbirth, leading to massive blood loss threatening the life of the mother. Hysterectomies have to be carried out as soon as the baby is born to prevent the woman bleeding to death.

Affecting around one woman in every 2,000 pregnancies, the trust normally carried out four planned caesarean hysterectomies for morbidly adherent placenta a year.

However, the two cases occurred within two days at the end of March, leading to the rapid assembly of consultants, surgeons, anaesthetists, paediatric nurses, interventional radiologists, operating department practitioners and midwives.

Trust staff had diagnosed the conditions early in the two women, including one mother referred to Hull from Scarborough, and plans were being put in place for the operations at the end of March and in the second week in April.

However, one of the women started bleeding and was rushed to Hull Women and Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery on March 22, requiring the rapid assembly of the team three weeks earlier than anticipated and the day before the planned operation involving the other woman.

Ms Rajesh said: “We had already held multi-disciplinary team meetings attended by the specialists so that we could trouble-shoot any problems that may arise.

“When the woman was brought in as an emergency, we had to assemble the whole team within two to three hours.”

Both operations were successful, with the mothers and their babies saved. Both women, who are not being identified, are currently completing outpatient assessments to monitor their recovery after major surgery.

Uma Rajesh said the trust was establishing a reputation as a centre for the complex surgery.

“Both surgeries went beautifully and we have secured good outcomes for both women,” she said.

“We are starting to see more units nearby refer cases to us because we have been able to achieve good outcomes by providing this specialist care.

“We are hopeful that we can become one of the regional centres undertaking this work in the future alongside Sheffield or Leeds. There is room for more than one hospital carrying out this work.”

Families of babies who die before or just after birth will be given the chance to spend precious time with their children in their own homes.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is now offering parents portable ‘cold cots’ if they wish to take their babies home before funerals.

Specialist bereavement midwife Sue Cooper said: “The introduction of the two portable cold cots is another step forward in improving our support for bereaved families.

“It was difficult for us to offer that service in the past because you need special conditions to look after a baby in a home environment.

“Now, thanks to the generosity of Sands charity and a family who wanted to help our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), we have two portable cold cots allowing families to take their babies home if that’s what they want to do.”

National charity Sands recommended all hospitals have a specialist bereavement midwife role and the trust introduced Sue’s role in February 2017, with support from a local charity Abbie’s Fund.

A new maternity strategy was produced alongside a national commitment to improve bereavement services around the country as grieving families had not always received appropriate care.

Hull was one of 11 hospital trusts chosen in October to trial new National Bereavement Care Plans covering five areas – the loss of a baby in early pregnancy, terminations linked to foetal abnormalities, stillbirth, neonatal death and the sudden death of a baby up into the age of one.

The trust recently introduced a new policy to offer scans and “Forget-Me-Not” memory boxes to women suffering early miscarriages, ectopic and molar pregnancies. Memory boxes are also given to families experiencing the death of their babies before or just after birth.

A dedicated room, away from the other labour rooms, has also been set up at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital where women who have been told their babies have died can be in a peaceful setting up to and after the birth of their child.

Supported by Sands, the maternity service is looking to provide a second room for additional capacity so families are not rushed to leave as they grieve their babies if another requires the special suite.

Cold cots were already available in the labour ward and in NICU but, until now, families have not been able to take their babies home.

The new portable cold cots have cold plates which can be fitted inside a Moses basket , allowing families to leave hospital and take their babies home before their funerals if they wish.

Sue Cooper said: “We want to make sure our families have options so they can begin to grieve for their babies in the best way for them.

“We are determined to ensure our service responds to people as individuals rather than adopt a blanket approach.

“At this trust, we are determined to listen to families, respond to feedback and ensure we provide women and their partners with the right support, tailored to their needs, when they experience the death of their child.”

A former chef has told how he gave up his job in a Michelin-star restaurant to work in hospital operating theatres after his wife had an emergency Caesarean section.

Phil Darwick, 34, was a chef at the Pipe and Glass in East Yorkshire when wife Anna, a nurse, was rushed into theatre to have their first daughter Lily.

He remembers how an operating department practitioner (ODP) calmed him down as his wife was prepared for surgery before supporting the family after the birth in 2009.

Phil, who works for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I was really nervous, shaking and quite tearful but this guy started talking to me about generic stuff like football and it just helped me.

“It was the most stressful situation I’d ever been in. Never once did he say anything like everything was going to be fine but he was just so professional and it helped.”

Already contemplating a career switch for a better work/life balance, Phil considered lecturing and nursing before he spotted the course description for an operating department practitioner (ODP) at the University of Hull.

He completed a year-long access course at Hull College before qualifying as an ODP in 2013, joining Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Originally assigned to elective orthopaedic surgery at Castle Hill, he was then promoted into a more senior role in general surgery after 18 months.

Now dad to Lily, 8, Seth, 6, and two-year-old Arthur, Phil is now clinical practice educator, acting as a link between the trust and the university and supervise around 45 ODP students working on placement at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Although he arranges all student placements, from work experience students at St Mary’s College in Hull to international nursing students, Phil also works one day a week in the theatres at Hull Royal Infirmary, supporting patients undergoing all forms of surgery from neurosurgery to vascular or orthopaedic trauma.

“The best part of my job is seeing people go from being an ordinary person off the street to a fully qualified ODP,” he said.

“We have mentors who work with the students and I am there as additional support in a supervisory role. They can come to me for advice and information and I’m always there in the background to help them.”

Phil is so passionate about his job and working for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust that he was one of the staff members chosen to appear on posters for the trust’s Remarkable People, Extraordinary Place recruitment campaign.

He said: “I love what I do and I’ve never regretted making that change.

“It might not seem like it at first but there are a lot of similarities between what I do now and what I did then. You stand up for a long time, you have to communicate effectively and work well under pressure, especially at Michelin star level.

“And at the end of the day, it’s all about customer satisfaction although, for me nowadays, it’s patient satisfaction that matters.”

Under the bright pendant light in the operating theatre, Sally Gilbert keeps a close eye on what is happening around the table.

Minutes earlier, she was checking every all the equipment and running through the surgical safety checklist as the cardiac surgical team scrub up ahead of the aortic valve replacement.

Now as the surgeon lifts his blade to make a neat cut into the patient’s chest, Sally anticipates his every move. She darts around the operating theatre, adds numbers to a whiteboard as another pack of swabs are used and tears open the packaging for a ‘balloon pump’ inserted through an artery to support the heart.

As an operating department practitioner (ODP) working for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, it’s Sally’s job to know exactly what’s coming next.

ODP Sally Gilbert

Sally, 36, is part of a highly skilled team who play a vital role in the operating theatres at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Joining the trust as a medical lab assistant after completing her ‘A’ levels at Wyke College, Sally was about a year into her job in pathology when her friend started training as an ODP.

“She showed me the job description and I thought it sounded brilliant,” said Sally. “I started training when I was 18 and qualified two years later.”

ODP training was then a two-year course, with the trust paying for students to study one day a week at Huddersfield University and four days in practical work experience.

Now, it’s a three-year degree course, with the University of Hull training the ODPs of the future.

Once they qualify, ODPs mainly work in three areas – anaesthetics, surgery and recovery.

Before surgery, ODPs prepare all the machinery and equipment which will be required and check stock to ensure everything is in its proper place for the operation. They’ll carry out a safety checklist, ensuring the right patient is here for the right thing.

The ODPs work with anaesthetists to monitor, cannulate, anaesthetise and position the patient ready for their surgery. The ODP then runs through the WHO checklist and checks all equipment used, such as swabs and instruments, in and out at every stage of the procedure to prevent the retention of foreign objects during surgery.

If working ‘on the scrub side’ the ODP will scrub up, wear a sterile gown and gloves, and prepare the trolley with all the instruments, swabs, needles etc. needed for the case. They then work with the surgeon providing the items they will need during the operation.

Once the operation is over, in PACU (Post Anaesthetic Care Unit) the ODP will monitor the patient, checking on their oxygen levels, their nausea and pain.

“It’s a lot harder to tackle pain once it peaks so we aim to stop it before it kicks in,” she said.

No two days are the same and ODPs, like the rest of the surgical teams, we never know what could happen once the patient arrives on the table.

Today, all is well. The patient, born with a congenital heart condition, undergoes the aortic valve surgery and is then taken to Intensive Care to begin the road back to recovery.

For Sally, the patients are the best part of the job.

“You get to meet some lovely and interesting people,” she said. “But there’s also the adrenalin involved in a job like this because you have to be ready to act when something happens. We pull together as a team and there’s a fantastic sense of team spirit here.

“It’s a really great place to work.”

They play a vital role in the care of patients before, during and after surgery. But what exactly is an Operating Department Practitioner?

Today, on ODP Awareness Day, Phil Darwick, who works for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, explains how ODPs play crucial roles in the care and recovery of a patient undergoing surgery.

What is an Operating Department Practitioner(ODP)?

An Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) is a highly skilled member of the surgical team who cares and supports patients undergoing operations at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

They play crucial roles in what is known as perioperative care – so, when a patient is anaesthetised before an operation, is on the operating table and is taken to recovery following surgery.

What do they do during the “anaesthetic phase”

The ODP will help the patient when they arrive in the theatres department ahead of their surgery. They will communicate with the patient, ensuring the care is tailored to their exact needs. They play a key role in reassuring the patient, carrying out checks ahead of surgery and answering any questions a patient may have.

They also prepare the equipment which will be necessary during the operation such as anaesthetic machines, intravenous equipment, patient positioning aids, pressure area care, patient warming and emergency equipment.

Phil Darwick

Do they take part in operations?

As a critical member of the surgical team, it is the ODP’s responsibility to prepare all the instruments and equipment which will be required during an operation such as microscopes, swaps and knives.

During the operating, they will attempt to anticipate the needs of the other members and the team, responding quickly and effectively.

They hand the correct surgical instruments and material to the surgeon and provide a link between the team and other parts of the theatre or hospital during the operation.

The operation is over. What’s next?

The ODPs still have important functions to carry out once the surgery is over and the patient is wheeled to recovery bays in the operating theatres.

They support the patient from the minute they arrive in recovery, monitoring the patient’s vital signs such as their heart rate, oxygen levels and blood pressure.

They continue appropriate treatment such as ventilation or pain relief until the patient has come round from general anaesthesia and will assess when a patient has recovered enough to return to the ward.

Sounds like my dream job. Where do I sign up?

The University of Hull offers a BSc(Hons) in Operating Department Practice, a full-time course lasting three years.

Students must be 18 and you need 120 UCAS points which can come from a variety of qualifications. The course fees are £9,250 although students from low income backgrounds can apply for scholarships.

You’ll be educated to ‘A’ level or BTEC level, with five GCSEs including English and Maths at Grade 4 or above. Advanced apprenticeships in Health and Social Care, a Health and Social Care Diploma and NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care are among the qualifications which can account for UCAS points.

Shortlisted applicants undergo an interview to consider their suitability for the role.

Developed in conjunction with Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and other NHS trusts, the course consists of nine theoretical and eight practice modules. You need to complete each module successfully to gain the professional qualification.

But hands-on learning is a key part of the course, with students spending 60 per cent of the course on active placements at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital as well as other hospitals in York, Scarborough, Bridlington, Goole and Lincolnshire. Experienced ODPs mentor students throughout their placements, sharing their clinical expertise and skills.

Students study to become ODPs at the new £28m health campus including the Allam Medical Building, regarded as one of the finest training facilities in the country.

The course has been approved by the Health and Care Professions Council.

An alternative route is the University Certificate in Health and Social Care Practice. This is a part-time, one year programme designed for those who lack the academic qualifications to apply for a healthcare degree programme. Upon successful completion, students are eligible to apply for BSc Operating Department Practice (numeracy and study skills modules must be taken as part of the Certificate).

How much will I earn once I qualify?

A newly qualified ODP starts as a band 5, with a starting salary of £22,128 and the potential to rise through the points to £28,746 as your career progresses.

Will becoming an ODP be a good move for my future prospects?

Progressing into more senior and managerial roles could see ODPs move into Band 6 and 7 under the NHS’s Agenda for Change contract of terms and conditions.

With sufficient education and clinical experience, you could be considered for the extended roles of physician’s assistant in anaesthesia or as a surgical care practitioner, both roles attracting increased salaries and responsibilities.

Frontline hospital staff have been inundated in the past few days with people turning up at Hull’s Emergency Department with coughs, colds and minor injuries.

Hull Royal Infirmary’s Emergency Department has seen more than 400 people a day this week, with around 50 per cent seeking care for minor injuries and illnesses.

However, fewer than 10 per cent have required hospital admissions, underlining the fact that most could have gone to their GPs, attended an urgent care centre, seen their pharmacist or taken care of their own symptoms at home instead of heading for Hull Royal.

One man turned up for treatment for a sore finger, injured in a drunken fall several months ago, some have come because they’ve been asked to wait for an appointment with GP while others have ignored advice and turned up at hospital with diarrhoea and vomiting, risking its spread to already vulnerable patients with much more serious conditions.

Now, Teresa Cope, Chief Operating Officer of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is appealing to people to use alternatives to the Emergency Department this weekend to ensure emergency staff are free to help the seriously ill and dying.

She said: “We’re seeing around 250 people a day walk into the Emergency Department and another 150 people arrive by ambulance it’s fair to say a large proportion of those could have been seen more rapidly and just as safely by alternatives services in the community.

“There has been a steady increase in attendances of people with minor injuries and illnesses in the past week which has placed huge pressure on our staff and services.

“We are still seeing large numbers of very sick people requiring admission to hospital. Our staff are working around the clock to discharge people well enough to go home so we have enough beds for those who need to come in.

“The people of Hull and East Riding an play a major role in helping us by ensuring they only come to the Emergency Department with serious or life-threatening conditions and use urgent care or urgent treatment centres, the GP walk-in service at Wilberforce Health Centre only if you can’t get to see your own GP or visit your pharmacist for everything else.”

The trust is running its #SeriousStuff campaign to urge people to use alternative services instead of heading to A&E with minor complaints.

We’ve revealed how frontline emergency teams have been asked to squeeze blackheads, remove false nails and treat people for sniffles and minor bugs which could easily be treated at home.

Hull has a 24-hour Urgent Care Centre at Bransholme Health Centre and there are three new Urgent Treatment Centres, open 16 hours a day, at Goole, Bridlington and Beverley.

If you live in the East Riding, you can visit www.eastridingofyorkshireccg.nhs.uk/choose-well/ to discover alternatives to A&E in your area.

People living in Hull can visit www.hullccg.nhs.uk/find-local-services/ to find out about other health services in the city.

Divisional general manager Matt Storey

Matt Storey, Divisional General Manager for Emergency and Acute Medicine, praised hospital teams for their dedication in responding to the current pressures.

He said: “We’ve got a fantastic team and they’re working flat out round the clock to help as many people as they can.

“All we are asking is that people help themselves and help others by using the best health service for their problem.  We have great urgent care services in Hull and the East Riding – if you’re not sure what to do you can access information via the internet or call NHS111. This frees up our time at Hull Royal to look after the sickest people and their families who really need our help.

“In general, people know when they’ve got a serious illness or when it’s something that can be treated elsewhere. If you’ve had something for a while, it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s not something you need to come to hospital with and not being able to get an appointment with your GP is not a reason to head for A&E.

“All you are doing is putting other people’s lives at risk because our staff won’t be available to those who need us most.”

Two hospital pathology workers have undergone life-saving liver transplants within a year.

Senior biomedical scientist Mandy Hultum, 54, and medical laboratory assistant Helen Sharp, 35, both received liver transplants almost exactly a year apart.

The women, who worked for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, say the support from each other and their workmates helped their recovery.

Mandy said: “I couldn’t believe it when I heard someone who worked in the same place needed a liver transplant too. I was so relieved when Helen got her transplant too.”

Helen said Mandy’s experience gave her hope while she was on the transplant list.

“You can speak to other people about it but no-one can really understand unless they’ve been through it,” She said. “Mandy and I become good friends and still see each other for a coffee and a catch up,”

Mandy was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), a rare disease classified as a cancer, around 15 years ago.

She developed primary scelorising cholangitis (PSC) in summer 2015 and underwent a liver transplant at St James’s Hospital in Leeds on Easter Sunday 2016 after three false alarms.

She was back working in the pathology department when she discovered Helen also needed a transplant.

Mandy said: “I knew Helen by sight but we met up a few times and I hope I was able to help her.”

Helen, who lives in Hull with husband Richard and their two children Joshua, 7, and three-year-old Ruby, had Crohn’s disease. Blood tests highlighted problems with her liver function and doctors discovered she had primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

Although she had already lost five stone through Slimming World, Helen lost her appetite, became jaundiced and lethargic and went off sick.

Her friend and workmate Sharon Newlove put her in contact with Mandy, then recovering from the transplant.

After three months on the waiting list, Helen received the call to say a suitable liver has been found and she underwent transplant surgery in March 13, 2017, after two false alarms.

“My life has changed completely,” Helen said. “I feel fantastic.

“I can do stuff with my kids now when, before, they would know Mummy wasn’t feeling good so had to go to bed.”

Touched by their friends’ experience, staff in the pathology department were determined to raise awareness and increase the names on the organ donor register.

Sharon Newlove, a supervisor at blood sciences, teamed up with medical lab assistant Karen Hudson to arrange a charity football match against Hull City veterans and a variety show at the Northern Academy of Performing Arts earlier this year, raising £1,728.

Sharon said: “We thought there was something more we could do to help and what started out as a peanut of an idea became this big thing.

“The response was just so amazing and we can’t thank the people who supported us and our friends enough.”

Some of the money will be used to buy a television for transplant patients visiting the Bexley Wing at St James’s Hospital and some will be given to the trust’s own transplant team, which recently achieved its most successful year after 35 families agreed to donate organs from their loved ones.

Mandy said: “It’s meant such a lot to see what our workmates have done. I can’t find the words to say how much I appreciate it.”

Helen said: “I want to do whatever I can to promote organ donation and I’m really grateful to the people at work. They’ve been brilliant.”

Mums-to-be are to be offered a vaccine to protect their new-born babies from whooping cough.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is to become one of the first hospital trusts in the country to offer women the vaccine in a hospital setting.

Having the vaccine means babies will receive vital immunity from their mothers to protect them from the serious infection until they are old enough to receive the routine vaccination at eight weeks old.

Healthy lifestyles midwife Caroline Clark is one of 10 midwives trained to administer the injection from this week when women come to Hull Women and Children’s Hospital after their 20-week scan.

She said: “Women who have the vaccine are protecting their babies from what can be a very serious condition with major complications. Whooping cough has claimed the lives of babies in the past and vaccination is essential protection for those first few weeks.

“This vaccine has been tested on 18,000 women with no risk to the mother or baby identified so we are hoping as many women as possible will get vaccinated.”

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial infection affecting the lungs and airways.

It can be life-threatening in young babies, with those under six months at particular risk of complications and usually requiring hospital admission if they contract the infection.

During coughing fits, some babies can gasp for breath, causing the whooping sound that gives the condition its name. They can also turn blue, known as cyanosis.

The trust is providing the whooping cough vaccine as part of a programme introduced by the Department of Health following a national outbreak in 2012.

Its midwives were among the first in England to be trained to administer the flu vaccine at the end of last year and their training has now been extended to cover whooping cough.

Other countries including the US, Argentina, Belgium, Spain, Australia and New Zealand also offer the vaccine to pregnant women.

Around 18,000 women who received the vaccine have been studied by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and no evidence was found of any risk to the pregnancy or the baby.

Numbers of confirmed cases have plummeted since the vaccine for pregnant women was introduced in October 2012. Between July and September last year, there were 1,322 confirmed cases in England compared to 3,519 in 2012.

In 2012, 147 babies under the age of three months caught whooping cough but it fell to 39 cases between July and September 2017.

Of the 18 babies dying of whooping cough since the introduction of the vaccine for pregnancy women in 2012, 16 were born to mothers who had not been vaccinated against the condition.

Between April and June last year, more than 72 per cent of eligible women received the whooping cough vaccine. No babies died of pertussis between January and September 2017.

Caroline Clark said the team will be based in the antenatal clinic and the vaccine will be offered to women when they come to hospital for antenatal appointments, blood tests or to see consultants.

Plans are for the vaccination programme to be extended to women attending the antenatal day unit.

Caroline said the injection in the woman’s arm can be administered from 16 weeks up until the end of the pregnancy.

“We can give it to women right up until delivery but it may be less effective after 38 weeks,” she said. “It is far better for women to have it between 16-32 weeks so their baby gets maximum protection and in case they go into labour early.

“Before, women would have to go to their GP to be vaccinated against whooping cough so it’s great that midwives are now able to offer this service here at the hospital.”

A Hull mum has told how a special team of neonatal nurses and midwives supported her after her baby daughter was born six weeks early.

Emily Kelsey, 23, went into labour and gave birth to baby Aria on April 6 when she was 34  weeks into her pregnancy.

Weighing just over 1.8kg or four pounds, Aria and Emily spent six days in Transitional Care, a four-cot unit on postnatal Rowan Ward at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.

Transitional Care is where mothers can stay with their new-born babies for additional support from neonatal nurses before they are ready to go home. Most mothers stay in the unit for a few days although the longest stay has been two weeks.

Emily, now home in Park Avenue with baby Aria, partner Jonathan and two-year-old son Elijah, said: “The support I got was phenomenal.  I could ask anything and the nurses were always there to help.

“I had to check Aria’s stomach acid using a syringe put into her belly before feeding and I was a bit worried about doing it at first. But I learned how to do it with their support and it gave me confidence to do it on my own.”

Nursing staff at Hull’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) began supporting transitional care in November 2017 on a dedicated area of the postnatal ward, ensuring the best care could be given to babies and their families in the most appropriate place.

Neonatal nurses at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust provide specialist care for babies, who could require nasogastric tubes for feeding or drugs through IV drips, in the first few days after birth while midwives provide crucial support for the mum.

TC lead Katy Nicholson, who is also the neonatal feeding co-ordinator, said: “Transitional Care is an in-between stage where the baby is not yet ready to go home and still needs some extra support with feeding and growing.

“The neonatal nurses work with the midwives to empower the mum in becoming the sole carer..

“The babies have to meet certain criteria for Transitional Care, such as being born at a minimum of 34 weeks and weighing from 1.6kg upwards. The maximum medical support needed for TC babies is tube feeding, IV antibiotics or phototherapy if they are jaundiced.”

Baby Aria

Transitional Care means neonatal ICU nurses and midwives work closely together, ensuring effective communication between our two teams and services to provide the best care for both mother and baby. It ensures additional support is there for families whose babies require an extra level of nursing before going home.

As the service evolves, the plan is for families of babies on NICU to use Transitional Care as a “step down” from the high intensity nursing environment, allowing other sick babies to be transferred onto the unit.

It also means parents can gain confidence in looking after babies born prematurely or with additional needs before they are discharged.

Katy Nicholson, who has worked at the trust for 22 years, said: “Transitional Care means neonatal services  and maternity are working closely together, ensuring effective communication between our two teams and services to provide the best care for both mother and baby.

“It means mothers and babies are not separated and can stay together, breastfeeding and expressing of breast milk can be established more effectively and families gain the confidence in looking after babies with special care needs before they go home.

“Babies are discharged home quicker due to the support they are receiving.”