Education and Training

Education and Training are considered as high priority. All new staff have a two day induction programme accompanied by a folder containing information on all aspects of the team’s work. This is followed by practical experience of transfers supervised by an experienced team member until the individual is deemed competent and also, feels confidant to work independently.  In addition, the majority of experienced team members have attended a national neonatal transport course while others are in the process of so doing. Two team members are accredited neonatal transport course instructors.

During its first year, the NTS team organised a neonatal transport study day open to both medical and nursing staff in the region and also, there was an induction day for Specialist Registrars who would like to spend time working with the NTS. The latter covered all aspects of neonatal transport including its organisation, clinical governance and communication as well as practical issues such as the use of the transport incubator and the transfer of babies between incubator systems. The programme was well received and there is an ongoing process to include neonatal transport as part of the Specialist Registrar training in neonatology in the West Midlands. This involves gaining approval for training by the West Midlands Deanery.  A further study day is planned for later this year in conjunction with colleagues from the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

A successful meeting was held with colleagues from the neonatal transport service of the Central England neonatal network. This proved to be an excellent opportunity for exchange of ideas and future meetings will be arranged during the current year.  As more team members join the group, they will be encouraged to undertake audit and research projects and present the work at national meetings.

Mentoring of Staff

A system of mentoring staff has been established and also provision has been made for maintenance of staff competency skills by working in a clinical role on neonatal units. All staff members maintain a competency portfolio and are supervised and subject to appraisal.

This page was last modified on Mon Apr 23 2012