The Neonatal Unit at the West Suffolk Hospital provides care for sick and preterm infants from 28 weeks gestation onwards. Babies come to us for a variety of reasons and stay with us for varying lengths of time ranging from a few hours to a few weeks.

Services Provided

We have 12 cots in total which can be used for babies requiring short term intensive care, high dependency care and special care depending on the needs of the individual baby. Staff on the unit work hard to keep parents as much involved as possible in their babies care and to deliver high quality, safe and effective family centred care.

Main Contact Numbers

The unit can be contacted any time of the day or night on 01284 713251.

Where are we?

We are on the first floor of the hospital opposite ward F12.

Members of the team

Sharon Alexander is the Lead neonatal nurse / unit manager who can be contacted via the unit.

Dr Ian Evans is the lead consultant for the special care unit and all of the paediatric consultants regulary work on special care too.

Patient Information

Visiting times:

Parents and siblings may visit their baby at any time of the day or night on SCBU.

Other family and friends restricted to 14.30-16.00 hours and 19.00-20.00 hours accompanied by parents, restricted to only two per baby please, also no other children under 15 are permitted onto the unit. Any queries regarding visiting can be answered by the nurse in charge.

We also ask that for the comfort and privacy of our babies and families that mobile phones are switched off whilst on the unit – Thank you.

Premature and sick babies are particularly vunerable to infection, therefore it is essential that all visitors to the unit wash their hands before entering and before handling a baby. It is also important that you inform us if you or any member of your family is unwell in any way.

Support Groups

We have a local SCBU parent support group who undertake lots of fundraising and can be contacted via the unit.

BLISS also is a great resource for parents/families www.bliss.org.uk| or 0500 618140