North Manchester General Hospital - Infant Flow Driver

UPDATE: This equipment was delivered in 2004.

The newly refurbished Neo-Natal Department at North Manchester General Hospital treats up to 16 babies at any time, with two intensive care beds. Up to 250 pre-term and seriously ill babies are treated each year on the unit. Patients come to the hospital from the whole of North Manchester, including some of the most deprived areas in the city. Funding has traditionally been in short supply at the hospital, with babies frequently being forced transfer to the regional centres such as St Mary’s Hospital. This involves a traumatic journey across the city centre, and separation from the mother.

By providing the latest in Neo-natal medical technology, we can significantly reduce the need for babies to be moved to other hospital sites. Often improvements in patient care happen more quickly than NHS budgets can keep pace with.

Staff on the ward feel that it would be of huge benefit to seriously ill pre-term babies to have access to the latest in advanced respiratory support. To have this equipment available would cut down on the need for a transfer, thus allowing mother and baby to stay together. This helps the bonding process, and allows the mother to breast-feed which is particularly important for a premature baby.

The EME Infant Flow System supports pre-term infants who require gentle respiratory support from the moment of birth. This innovative device delivers a constant stable pressure to the infant, and cuts down on damage to lungs and the respiratory tract.

The provision of this equipment would help to bring the standard of care up to that offered at the specialist Neo-Natal units. As well as allowing much greater accuracy, it would cut down on hospital transfers, and therefore massively reduce the pressure on the family at a very difficult time.

The Infant Flow Driver costs £5,427.00.