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This time, old chestnuts are good
Journal of Neonatal Nursing (2008) 14, 35
www.intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/jneo
EDITORIAL
This time, old chestnuts are good Too often, it seems like many more than around 10% of all babies born, that come into our neonatal units up and down the country, but that is the official figure for babies requiring intensive and special care at birth. Recently, the National Audit Office has recognised that the demand for our service is growing, and in the light of this, set out to gather data and information on the managed clinical networks, set up around 2003. These clinical networks were a government recommendation in 2003 as a method of organising care and a way for neonatal units to function in a group that ensured babies and families received all the care they needed in a defined area without having to travel long distances. Along with the reorganistaion, the government allocated units an additional 72 million between 2003 and 2006. As it is estimated that neonatal services take about 420 million annually to run, the question posed by the Audit Commission was: are neonatal services delivering value for money. The results are not unexpected. Networks, it was found, are working well and thankfully fewer babies have to travel long distances for care. Communication and the gathering of performance information has improved and as has the working relationship that disintegrated under the old internal market. However, networks are inevitably at various stages of development and the designation of some units to provide a particular level of care in association with others in the network has not always happened. Furthermore, we still have not achieved transport teams independent of the day to day staffing, causing
additional shortages and pressures. Some if the rest is as we would expect and know, but that’s good. It is those old chestnuts of nurse staffing, capacity and evidence of outcomes beyond the basic mortality rates have once again been highlighted. The figures are there in print; on average each unit is carrying three full time vacancies and that increases with intensity of the unit, but we all know too well the facts of chronic understaffing and the knock on effect to accept babies into the unit. Similarly, the recommendations are for a strategic plan to address recruitment to include training and retention of nurses. The evidence for our arguments is not word or hearsay, but written and produced by a reputable body, The National Audit Office. The report may soon be raised in the House of Commons and it is up to us to make sure that it stays alive and acted upon. Don’t let it be filed on the dusty library sheet again. We are its spokesperson, and that is the reason why we need neonatal nurses to support their Association to keep that voice vibrating. The full report Caring for Vulnerable Babies: the Re-organisation of Neonatal Services in England, December 2007 can be seen in full from the link at http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/ chronindex.asp?type¼vfm. Dee Beresford E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 14 March 2008
1355-1841/$ - see front matter ª 2008 Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jnn.2008.02.003
www.intl.elsevierhealth.com/journals/jneo
EDITORIAL
This time, old chestnuts are good Too often, it seems like many more than around 10% of all babies born, that come into our neonatal units up and down the country, but that is the official figure for babies requiring intensive and special care at birth. Recently, the National Audit Office has recognised that the demand for our service is growing, and in the light of this, set out to gather data and information on the managed clinical networks, set up around 2003. These clinical networks were a government recommendation in 2003 as a method of organising care and a way for neonatal units to function in a group that ensured babies and families received all the care they needed in a defined area without having to travel long distances. Along with the reorganistaion, the government allocated units an additional 72 million between 2003 and 2006. As it is estimated that neonatal services take about 420 million annually to run, the question posed by the Audit Commission was: are neonatal services delivering value for money. The results are not unexpected. Networks, it was found, are working well and thankfully fewer babies have to travel long distances for care. Communication and the gathering of performance information has improved and as has the working relationship that disintegrated under the old internal market. However, networks are inevitably at various stages of development and the designation of some units to provide a particular level of care in association with others in the network has not always happened. Furthermore, we still have not achieved transport teams independent of the day to day staffing, causing
additional shortages and pressures. Some if the rest is as we would expect and know, but that’s good. It is those old chestnuts of nurse staffing, capacity and evidence of outcomes beyond the basic mortality rates have once again been highlighted. The figures are there in print; on average each unit is carrying three full time vacancies and that increases with intensity of the unit, but we all know too well the facts of chronic understaffing and the knock on effect to accept babies into the unit. Similarly, the recommendations are for a strategic plan to address recruitment to include training and retention of nurses. The evidence for our arguments is not word or hearsay, but written and produced by a reputable body, The National Audit Office. The report may soon be raised in the House of Commons and it is up to us to make sure that it stays alive and acted upon. Don’t let it be filed on the dusty library sheet again. We are its spokesperson, and that is the reason why we need neonatal nurses to support their Association to keep that voice vibrating. The full report Caring for Vulnerable Babies: the Re-organisation of Neonatal Services in England, December 2007 can be seen in full from the link at http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/ chronindex.asp?type¼vfm. Dee Beresford E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 14 March 2008
1355-1841/$ - see front matter ª 2008 Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jnn.2008.02.003