NICU Referrals

NICU Referrals

Most of our patients are inborn, although around a quarter are referred to us from other hospitals. These patients are mainly urgent ex-utero transfers. The vast majority of these patients come from other Welsh hospitals and a tiny majority come from England.

Patients are generally followed up for a 1-2 year period and are either discharged or referred to the Community Paediatric Team.

Nearly all of the patients who are seen in the Neonatal Outpatients Department are our NICU graduates. Occasionally, GPs will refer an infant from the community to Neonatal Outpatients.

Referral Procedures

Urgent Referrals

All urgent referrals should be made via the on call Neonatal Registrars. They can be contacted via the bleep system through Switchboard 029 2074 7747 or by telephoning the NICU on 029 2074 2680 / 2684 and asking for the Registrar.

The Neonatal Registrar will then contact the consultant and arrangements will be made for transfer of the patient. Either our unit will retrieve the patient or the referral hospital will transfer the patient to UHW. depending on the clinical condition of the patient and staff availability.

Telephone Advice

In order to discuss the management of a case or to seek advice, the Neonatal Registrar should be contacted via the NICU or through Switchboard.  Alternatively the Neonatal Consultants can be contacted via their secretaries or via switchboard during out of hours.