Construction of £44m women and children’s unit now underway

Lead neonatal nurse Ian Yates, eagerly waiting for the new Women and Children’s supercentre

The construction of a purpose-built £44million women and children’s unit at the Royal Oldham Hospital is now underway. The new unit is set to mark a new era for neonatal care for families across Oldham, Rochdale and the surrounding areas.

The services will be used by families from Rochdale following the removal of inpatient maternity and children’s services from the Rochdale Infirmary back in June.

The unit, due to open in December 2012, will include a major new four storey building, the refurbishment of existing wards, new delivery rooms, obstetric theatres, a paediatric theatre, maternity beds and a brand new Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit.

The current neonatal unit at Oldham Hospital can only treat babies born after 27 weeks that do not require intensive or critical care. Once the new development is complete, The Royal Oldham will be one of three regional centres providing the highest level of intensive care to the smallest and most vulnerable babies.

The new unit will house 37 neonatal cots and 110 expert staff will treat around 550 babies each year from Oldham, Rochdale and the surrounding areas. There will also be five en-suite bedrooms for parents to stay overnight.

Carly Shaw, neonatal staff nurse at The Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “I’m really looking forward to moving to the new unit. I’m about to start a six month neonatal intensive care course so it will be fantastic to use all the new skills I’ll have learnt.

“At the moment we don’t always get to see the babies all the way through their treatment as sometimes they have to be transferred to other units for more intensive care. From December next year we will be able to care for each baby throughout their journey and it will be wonderful to see them progress.”

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs The Royal Oldham Hospital, launched the In Your Hands Appeal in February this year. The Appeal aims to raise £200,000 for additional equipment and furniture for the new unit. Some of this money will go towards a £55,000 neonatal transport incubator and specialist neonatal cots at £20,000 each.

Ian Yates, neonatal lead nurse at The Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “The money raised through the In Your Hands Appeal will help us to purchase some of the more expensive equipment for particularly poorly babies. Every day we see the difference this life-saving equipment can make to babies’ lives so I would urge people to please come forward and donate to the Appeal.

To find out more about how you can help raise money for the In Your Hands Appeal, or to make a donation, go online to www.pat.nhs.uk/inyourhands or call 0161 918 4497.