A new service to transport very sick babies and children within the East of England will launch on 7 April.
The paediatric and neonatal decision support and retrieval service – known as PaNDR – will be able to offer critical care to children who need to be moved to different locations across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
Running initially for a year, this interim service will supplement the existing Children’s Acute Transfer Service (CATS) run by Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, providing an opportunity to better integrate neonatal and paediatric critical care retrieval across the Eastern region.
Operated by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust (CUH), PaNDR will incorporate the current neonatal and in-utero transfer service ANTS that is already based at CUH.
During the initial 12 months, NHSEI and the Paediatric Critical Care Operational Delivery Network (ODN) will work with stakeholders to determine longer term service needs.
Work has already begun to recruit paediatric intensive care consultants, specialist nurses and other support staff to set up the service, which will operate a transfer service seven days per week from 11:30 – 21:30 with 24/7 telephone advice and support.
Funds for the two new ambulances were raised by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT). Find out more here.
