Video call system for Bradford's neonatal unit
- Published
The trust says allowing parents to keep in touch with their newborns removes some of the anxiety and distress at being separated
Parents with infants who need neonatal care are being offered a video call system designed to keep them in contact.
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust claim it is the first in the country to offer parents secure video calling to the neonatal unit.
The technology allows parents to make a video call to a touch screen which is wheeled to the side of the baby's cot.
Parents can access the system from a computer, tablet or smartphone.
The screen displays pictures of both parents and baby and they can see and hear the infant as well as communicate directly with medical staff on the neonatal unit.
The trust said the system was secure and encrypted and had been funded by charitable donations.
Shelley Bailey, assistant chief nurse, said: "There are lots of reasons why mum or dad can't always get to visit a baby in the neonatal unit.
"Mum may be poorly herself and therefore still on the ward or it could be that she is in a different hospital to her baby.
"But this system takes away all that worry and anxiety of not being able to see your little one every day - because now it's possible."
The trust said the system was secure and encrypted and had been funded by charitable donations.
Consultant Neonatologist, Chakrapani Vasudevan, said: "We care for some of the most vulnerable and sick newborns and it is a time of immense distress and anxiety for parents.
"This technology will go a long way in lessening this."