Follow up Programme for high risk babies from the
NCLPN
Data collection forms for the Outcomes
Project
Click here to see the Outcomes Questionnaire for individual
infants
Click here to see the Denominator Data
form
Nearly 200 high risk babies are born every year in the hospitals
from the North Central London Perinatal Network ,of which about 150
survive to discharge. High risk babies are considered by our
networks as the less than 29 weeks gestation or less than 1000
grams, or term babies who have suffered from encephalopathy severe
enough to affect their long term outcome.
The NCLPN provides the best quality treatment for these babies
while they are in the neonatal unit including investigations and
evidence based management .All neonatal staff across the network
are fully committed to care for these babies in order to provide
the best possible outcomes.
The follow up programme starts in the NICU, by empowering parents
to bond with their babies through interventions like skin to skin
contact and developmental care implementation. Then,at discharge,
the commitment is to provide a state of the art follow up programme
to support parents on their journey aiming to get their best of
their children within the context of a normal life.
The neurodevelopment follow up programme requires sequential
assessments at different ages, four in the first year, and two in
the second year of life.
Ideally provided by developmental therapists throughout the
network, these assessments are designed to screen and identify
developmental problems with the aim of providing anticipatory
guidance to parents and improving long term outcomes in
babies.
Liaison with the Neonatal Units and the Community Paediatricians
from the SHA provides more specific intervention if required.
The main objective is accessibility. Currently the programme is
working at University College and The Royal Free hospitals, and
Camden PCT and a strategy is in place to start in other hospitals
within the network once the first developmental therapist is
appointed. All efforts are directed to seeing the infants as close
to home as possible, ideally at their local Child Development
Centres or Children's Centres.
In 04/05 the NCLPN funded a Follow-up Coordinators post, the main
purpose of this role is to ensure there is a strong link between
the hospital and community services.
Angela Huertas
Consultant Neonatologist
UCLH