Neonatal ICU (NICU)

Introduction

The Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust Neonatal ICU Visiting Professional Programme (VPP) is designed to provide international visiting professionals with the opportunity to experience our highly acclaimed neonatal unit first hand. The programme offers a unique chance to be fully integrated within a neonatal service which is at the forefront of clinical activity, training and research.

The programmes are designed by our clinical leads to provide unique development experiences which enable visiting professionals to broaden their clinical expertise and learn new skills that can be transferred back to their work place. We are excited to deliver exclusive access to observe and work alongside our neonatal faculty and to provide an opportunity for international professionals to gain insight into our Trust and the role that our staff play within the NHS.

Programme aims

The programme is aimed at those who wish to extend their clinical expertise in neonatology within Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

The aims of the programme include:

• The opportunity to have direct experience and exposure to clinics and ward rounds at a world-renowned neonatal ICU
• Participation in multidisciplinary team meetings
• Access to departmental seminar programmes and trust wide education programmes
• The opportunity to develop networks for future close working
• The opportunity to participate in local governance and quality improvement projects and potential to present findings within the department or wider neonatal network.
• Individual weekly timetables will be created depending on each visiting professional’s requirements.

A Certificate of Attendance will be awarded to visitors upon the end of their programme.

Format

The neonatal ICU programme is delivered within the hospital work place and it includes exposure to clinics, inpatient ward rounds, and multidisciplinary team meetings involving different specialities such as infectious diseases, paediatric surgery and fetal medicine.

Visiting professionals will be aligned with supervisors from within the clinical teams who will facilitate agreed learning and development needs. We would expect visiting professionals to be totally integrated in the day to day service within our neonatal team.

We can also provide visiting professionals with the opportunity to get involved in local governance and improvement projects as well as local presentations to the unit or events within network.

Who can apply

This programme is intended for non-U.K. registrars, senior and junior clinical fellows, and those with basic paediatric or anaesthetic training with an interest in neonatology. 

Visitors have the choice of applying for a hands-on attachment or observership programme. Those wishing to apply for a hands-on attachment must have GMC registration. You can apply for GMC registration directly through the main GMC website, alternatively The Royal College of Physicians run a medical training initiative which facilitates GMC registration and provides sponsorship for a Tier 5 visa. You can find out more about their Medical Training Initiative by visiting their website. NMC registration can be applied for via the NMC website. 

Programme duration

It is recommended that in order to get the most out of the Neonatal ICU programme, that visiting professionals undertake an attachment placement of at least 6 weeks. However, the programme’s duration can potentially be tailored to the specific learning requirements of those visiting the Trust. We would usually recommend a placement duration of 6-8 weeks.

Neonatal ICU service

Our neonatal unit is now one of the largest neonatal units in the United Kingdom. We managed over 1000 admissions to our neonatal unit last year. The neonatal unit is part of Evelina London Children’s Hospital and benefits from the specialist paediatric input from a variety of teams such as endocrinology, metabolic medicine, nephrology, surgery, ENT, plastic surgery, genetics and palliative care.

The neonatal unit is the gateway between fetal medicine services and paediatric services, all located on one hospital site. There are currently 50 cots, of which 18 are Intensive Care (with plans to open to 20 soon), 12 High Dependency and 20 Special Care. There are over 7,000 births per year on-site, many of which are high risk due to both our inner city local population and the co-location of tertiary women’s and paediatric services, including fetal medicine and fetal cardiology. There is an academic Obstetrics and Fetal Medicine Department and a substantial number of antenatal referrals and in-utero transfers occur due to a wide range of Maternal Medicine tertiary services, including Diabetes, Lupus, Cardiology and Renal Medicine. Fetal Medicine and Fetal Cardiology services also account for many of these.

Our team of expert staff provides 24-hour care for premature and sick babies.

The Neonatal Unit is divided into three areas:

• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – provides support for babies requiring ventilator support and otherspecialist treatment needs
• High Dependency Unit (HDU) – provides support for babies who require less intensive care than babies inNICU
• Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) – provides feeding support for babies who are preparing for discharge or forpreterm or surgical babies who are grading up on enteral feeds, additional oxygen support and light therapy (phototherapy).

Research

We are a centre of excellence for neonatal research, in association with our academic partner, King’s College London.

Our world leading research programme based in the Centre for the Developing Brain, led by Professor David Edwards, utilises the state of the art 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner adjacent to the Unit, within the Evelina Perinatal Imaging Centre. In addition, we have an excellent record of recruitment of babies into multi-centres studies.

Neonatal outreach team

Our outreach team is a small team of neonatal nurses who specialise in helping parents to prepare for their baby going home.

For those who live in Lambeth or Southwark, a nurse from the outreach team will also visit families at home after leaving hospital. The team manages nasogastric feeding and establishing oral feeding at home, monitoring weight gain, providing, parent craft and offering support. They can also carry out any blood tests that babies might need and liaise with the hospital team regarding any problems within the community. The outreach team also liaises with local services to coordinate support for babies who are out of area and assist with repatriation to local trusts.

Example Timetable

Fees

A course fee per week will be applied; this fee excludes accommodation and travelling expenses. To find out the fee amount please email [email protected].

Please note

Clinicians are able to offer bursaries or discounted placements on an individual basis. This is at the discretion of the Directorates of GSTT and does not affect the terms and conditions of the Visiting Professional Programme agreements.