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New Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) is officially opened at the Rosie

'Louis Rolfe and his family offically opening the unit, with a picture Louis drew'

On Thursday 2 June, the new Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at the Rosie was officially opened by two very special guests – Holly and Louis Rolfe, both of whom were cared for in the unit when they were new-born.

Until recently, the Special Care Unit, which cares for babies who are not well enough to be cared for by their parents, only had four cots. These were often full and babies needing special care were being looked after in intensive or high dependency cots (in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). This meant that sometimes there would be no spaces available for extremely sick babies who required intensive care and they would have to be sent to other hospitals where there were free cots, which was a difficult situation for all involved.

The recently established Neonatal Network for Norfolk Suffolk and Cambridgeshire looked at the problems facing the Rosie and the Network. It was decided to increase Special Care capacity in Cambridge, in order to free up intensive and high dependency space. After an investment of £250,000, a brand new SCBU with 10 cots has been built in the Rosie. The unit is ideally located between the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Transitional Care Ward. The new SCBU provides a much more appropriate environment for babies, parents and staff. It is bright, clean, spacious and has a very calm atmosphere.

'The new 10-cot unit'

Speaking about the new unit, Dr Wilf Kelsall, Service Director of Neonatal Services at the Rosie said: “The Rosie opened 21 years ago with outstanding facilities for its time. This new development has truly begun a transition for the Neonatal Service into the 21st century with a much more appropriate environment for babies, parents and staff”

May 2005

For further press/media information contact: PR & Communications Department, Box 53, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ; Tel: 01223 274 433; Fax: 01223 257 143; Minicom: 01223 274 604.