Our team

Although we can provide medical and nursing care for your baby, only you can give the love and attention he or she needs from a parent.

Your baby will be cared for by a team of nurses and doctors specially trained to look after premature and sick newborn babies. Meet the team here. We will discuss all aspects of your baby’s care with you and will keep you fully informed of his or her progress. You will find a ‘who’s who’ board on the unit that tells you about the senior staff. You will see the nurses and doctors working in different areas of the unit at different times.

The consultants are the specialist doctors who manage the overall treatment of individual babies. There are eight neonatal consultants who take turns in coordinating the care of babies in the different nurseries each week. They are supported by a team of Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (ANNPs) and doctors.

Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners are nurses who have undergone additional and specialist training in neonatology. This includes a period of academic training and clinical training, including in the practical procedures we regularly perform on the neonatal unit.

The sisters are the most senior specialist nurses on the unit. They are supported by a team of nurses who are specially trained to look after premature and sick newborn babies; they will be responsible for your baby’s day-to-day care. Student nurses are always supported by a more experienced nurse. A designated senior nurse will coordinate the whole of the nursing team on the unit each day. A nurse leader will be allocated for each nursery. Please ask for the nurse or consultant in charge for the nursery if you wish to discuss a particular issue with them.

The neonatal team also includes ward clerks, secretaries, health care assistants, care centre assistants and a medical technician. The health, development and care needs of babies can be complex. Other members of the multi-disciplinary team may be involved in your baby’s care, including physiotherapists, speech therapists, dieticians, radiologists, neonatal surgeons, health visitors, social workers, specialist nurses and a counsellor.

In the interests of your baby’s health and welfare, the nurses and doctors on this unit routinely meet and correspond with other health and social care professionals to discuss your baby’s condition and progress and future care and/or treatments.

See also ‘Meet the team‘ photos and roles.

Every morning, doctors and nurses carry out a ward round to assess and plan together the medical and nursing care of your baby for that day. You are welcome to remain in the nursery alongside your baby. Only parents are allowed into the nursery during the ward rounds. This is to respect the need for confidentiality and privacy of each family during the round. You will appreciate that, as many parents may be present in the nursery whilst the ward round is in progress, it is possible that some parents may overhear discussion about another baby. We therefore urge you, and all parents, to appreciate and respect the need for confidentiality and privacy of each family at all times.

Issues of a particularly sensitive nature will be discussed outside of the nursery in a private area.

The ward round is a valuable opportunity for teaching junior medical and nursing staff and students. Therefore alternative diagnosis and aspects of care or treatment may be discussed around your baby which do not specifically relate to your baby. Staff will tell you when the discussion is for educational purposes only.

Staff may not have sufficient time to discuss your baby in detail with you during the ward round, as there are a lot of babies to see. If you would like a more detailed update about any aspect of your baby’s management and progress then do make an arrangement to meet a member of the medical team at another mutually convenient time during office hours. The nurse helping you care for your baby will be happy to arrange such a meeting with you. This meeting will normally be held in a room away from the nursery.

Sometimes babies are born in hospitals that do not have facilities to provide appropriate level of care. In these cases it may be necessary to transport them from one hospital to another. To enable babies to be transported as safely as possible, a dedicated neonatal transport service has been developed.

This team consists of a doctor or nurse practitioner and a nurse experienced in neonatal transport. The team can safely move babies who require higher levels of care when they need it. We have our own neonatal transport ambulance, which enables us to move babies more efficiently and safely within Kent, Surrey, Sussex and beyond.

• Obstetric Service
• The Royal Alex
• One Stop Clinic