Published on: 13 November 2024
Parents and siblings of babies who need specialist care can now stay close to the newly revamped neonatal ward thanks to a £1 million charity project – with Sunderland AFC’s club captain helping officially open the new rooms.
Luke O’Nien visited Sunderland Royal Hospital to take a tour of the unit and then unveil the new accommodation.
The project has been funded through donations to the STS Charity.
Luke O'Nien with members of the Neonatal team at Sunderland Royal Hospital during his tour of the new-look ward.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT) run it to cover the cost of extras for patients, as well as staff. It hosts the Mini Miracles fund especially to support its Neonatal service.
The unit invited the Sunderland player to lead the celebrations as his children were born at the hospital’s Maternity Department, which neighbours Neonatal.
He was given a tour of the unit before opening the accommodation, which has been set up in the nearby Trust Headquarters.
While others in the region also have rooms for parents on their unit, as Sunderland’s does, the four ensuite rooms make it the first neonatal service in the region to offer additional space dedicated for their use on site.
One of the rooms is accessible and two are family rooms so that a sibling can also say too. A kitchen and laundry room are also available for use by all.
The accommodation has been created alongside two revamped parent bedrooms within the unit itself, which are also ensuite. These are for use by families as they prepare to head home, so they can be closely supported by the team before they leave.
The unit also has a new expressing room and a space called the Lavender Room, which is a quiet space for private time.
The unit’s psychologist has a new room to use and there is a family room, where parents can eat and relax.
One of the cot spaces where babies are cared for has also been upgraded to help the team look after the infants. The unit has eight intensive care and high dependency cots and has space for nine other babies who need special care.
A woodland theme was chosen to decorate the unit, with all the changes the result of a co-produced plan which saw staff and parents work together.
Rooms on the unit have been named Maple, Sycamore, Chestnut, Bluebell and Snowdrop following a vote, while the four bedrooms in Trust HQ have been titled Bramble, Fern, Honeysuckle and Primrose.
One of the bedrooms set up for families as part of the accommodation.
Luke said:
"It was great to be able to visit the unit, meet the staff and see first-hand how babies who are premature or need extra help get the care they need.
"I know being a new parent is a really daunting time, so having those extra concerns must be a stressful time for them.
"The team told me all about how the charity funds have helped make it a better place for them to work and for the families they support.
"The staff are doing a great job and the parents who are there with their little ones really are seeing the benefit of the new spaces, as well as the accommodation which must make a big difference when they need to stay nearby."
The launch event was attended by Love, Amelia, the Sunderland-based charity which has forged a strong partnership with the unit as it helps families who need support with items for their babies.
The unit also welcomed Majd Abuharb, a neonatal consultant who has now partly retired. He helped set up the unit's cardiology service and continues to help the team care for its patients.
Emily Cameron is the ward manager and has worked alongside her team to get the accommodation ready for families and oversee the improvements to the unit.
Luke O'Nien helps cut the ribbon to the new accommodation with Dr Shaz Wahid, HCA Lisa Gunn, Unit Manager Emily Cameron, HCA Stephanie Harkin, Consultant Majd Abuharb and Steph Capewell, of Love, Amelia.
The revamp project was overseen by Choice, which is the business run by the Trust to provide its facilities service, including estates work.
She said:
"We absolutely love the new look unit. It looks light and modern, the wall stickers make it less clinical and now it’s a fitting place for babies and families to be.
"It’s a much better use of our space when we’re caring for our babies and the team are really happy with how it all works. Families face a really stressful time when their newborns need our help and we want to make it as comfortable as possible for them on the unit.
"The huge change is the accommodation. We did have a couple of rooms within the unit before, but they weren’t fit for purpose and demand was really high. Parents could stay in a nearby hotel, but that wasn’t a great experience for them.
"Also, as a unit, we look after babies born after 26 weeks from across the North East, and parents want to be with their child as much as possible. Travelling is an extra worry for them.
"We know having mam and dad with our babies helps them in those early days and it means they’re involved in their care more closely too.
"We are so grateful to the charity for their support for this project and all the parents and team members who have played a part in making it all possible."
Primary school teacher Izzy Logan, from Heaton in Newcastle, has her own first-hand experience of struggling without access to accommodation within the grounds.
She and husband Geoff welcomed their first born Rory in November last year at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital (NSEC) in Cramlington.
When he was born, Rory was struggling to breathe for himself, so he was transferred to the unit at Sunderland Royal Hospital. He spent seven days in its care and another three back at NSEC before he could head home.
During his care, he needed to be intubated, while a CPAP machine was used to help support him until he was strong enough to manage without them.
Izzy, 32, and Geoff, 37, an accountant, had to head home to rest and travel to and from the hospital - precious time they wanted to spend with their son.
Geoff and Izzy Logan as they held their son Rory for the first time.
The couple are full of praise for the care offered to Rory, first by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and then STSFT.
To thank the unit and raise funds for Mini Miracles, Izzy has reformed her university band and will play a gig this Friday, November 15, at the Cumberland Arms in Newcastle.
In addition to her country and bluegrass group, the Izzy Burns Quartet, her brother Wez Walker, 25, will perform with his band, the Wez Walker Trio, with raffle prizes to be won.
Izzy said:
"When they said Rory was unable to breathe for himself, I thought my worst nightmare had come true and I was about to lose my baby. It had been a pretty normal pregnancy up until that point so it came as quite a shock..
"They said Sunderland would be the best place for him, so they started to arrange a transfer. The team came in and it was like angels had arrived, they were so calm.
"It was a really scary time for us, but they explained everything they were going to try and then wean him off so he could breathe for himself.
"It’s a world you never want to find yourself in when you need the help of a neonatal unit, but the care was wonderful, not just for Rory but for Geoff and me as well.
"It’s great to hear they have a new expressing room because I was trying to express and it wouldn’t work. It was a really hard thing to deal with. The hormones hadn’t started to come through and it was that moment where I was finally able to have skin-to-skin contact and hold him that made it happen.
"At the time, there wasn’t enough space for us to stay on the unit. That was a big thing for us because we live in Newcastle, it’s a half hour drive to get to and from Sunderland and it meant we had to leave him.
"Every waking moment we had, we wanted to be with him, but we had to sleep. We know the new rooms will make such a huge difference to families."
Now aged 11 months, Rory is thriving.
Geoff and Izzy with their son Rory.
Izzy added:
"Now, you wouldn’t know anything like that had happened to Rory.
"He’s an absolute delight, a very typical little boy, he’s talking away and crawling and very nearly walking. Despite his initial difficult arrival, he’s perfect and full of life."
Tickets for the gig at the Cumberland Arms are £12 each and are available via the Cumberland Arms website and its Eventbrite page.
Doors open at 7.30pm.
More details about the STS Charity are available through its own section of the Trust’s website.
