THE SWAH neonatal unit was closed again at the weekend as a result of staff shortages, the second time in less than a month the life-saving unit had to be shut due to lack of cover.
The news comes as the Western Trust launches a major recruitment drive for staff to implement a new model of care at the unit, which had its capacity slashed at the beginning of the year from a full six-cot service to just two cots due to staffing challenges. The unit is currently providing only emergency care and stabilisation for transfer for babies as a result.
The Trust announced on Friday the ward at the Enniskillen hospital would be closed from 8am until 8pm on Saturday, May 21st, “due to unforeseen staff shortages” and encouraged any pregnant women in the area who had concerns should contact the SWAH maternity unit.
A similar situation occurred on Saturday, April 30th and bank holiday Monday, May 2nd, due to “workforce challenges.”
When contacted by the Herald this week, a spokeswoman for the Trust said the unit was staffed again from 8pm on Saturday evening, and was continuing to provide neonatal services.
“As per local neonatal contingency plan, an emergency meeting was held on Friday afternoon after all options had been explored to get cover for the emergency absence,” said the spokeswoman.
“This meeting was to discuss all options required in order to provide emergency care to babies born during this period. These plans were shared with paediatric and maternity staff.”
When asked if any babies had to be transferred as a result of the closure, the spokeswoman said, “Currently we provide emergency care to babies born in SWAH, and stabilisation /transfer for those that require a higher level of care.
“There have been several occasions during the period of staffing shortages whereby babies requiring a higher level of care have been transferred to other hospitals.
“However, these babies would have been transferred out to other hospitals regardless, as they required a higher level of care than special care.”
The weekend shutdown of the unit came days after the Trust announced it was seeking to recruit a range of neonatal staff at SWAH last week, including a Band 7 neonatal sister/nurse in charge, Band 6 neonatal staff nurses, and Band 5 neonatal staff nurses.
In its social media post, which included a video outlining how the hospital was a great place to work, the Trust explained how it was planning to develop the North’s first neonatal Family Integrated Care (FIC) model of care at the unit, which would see parents more involved and informed on their babies’ treatment.
“We are a small, friendly unit looking to recruit neonatal nurses to support and develop a FIC model into our unit so that we can empower parents and work in partnership with local families and babies born in the SWAH,” the video stated.
“This is an exciting time for us as we hope to be the first ‘FiCare’ unit in Northern Ireland.
“Our neonatal nurses and doctors have embraced this approach to care and although we are still in the planning and development stage we are keen to recruit nurses who have experience in FIC or who are willing to be part of a team taking this model forward.”
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