England's services hanging in the balance

Research by Bliss to assess the state of neonatal care in England in 2015 reveals that the service that is hanging in the balance and struggling to cope with increasing demand, and too few resources.

Neonatal units are unable to meet national standards for high quality and safe care, putting babies’ safety and survival at risk and impacting on their long-term development.

Despite five years passing since our previous comprehensive report on the issues facing neonatal services, our new findings shows that little has changed. Nurse staffing levels and occupancy levels (the number of babies being cared for at one time on a unit) remain persistent challenges and we’re deeply concerned to see such little progress.

In response to our report, we wrote an open letter to NHS boss Simon Stevens, which was signed by nearly 3800 people and endorsed by 16 other charities and professional bodies, urging him to review of funding levels for neonatal care so that services can meet the government and NHS' own standards for safety and quality.