Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee
Announcement Of Committee Inquiry: Neonatal Care
The Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee has agreed to undertake a short inquiry into Neonatal Care.
We are inviting individuals, groups or organisations with an interest or expertise in this area to submit written evidence.
Background
Neonatal care is the specialist branch of medicine that looks after babies immediately after birth. Many babies admitted to neonatal care will have been born prematurely or with low birthweight and will need some extra help until they are strong enough to go home. Others will have specific medical problems that require urgent specialist care or surgery.
The All Wales Neonatal Standards (which were published in December 2008) present an ambitious vision for services for special care babies and their families, to be achieved over a ten-year period.
The Committee has agreed to undertake a short inquiry to look at the progress in delivery of the All Wales Neonatal Standards and the implementation of the recommendations of the expert group on Neonatal Services.
Terms of Reference
We have agreed the following terms of reference for our inquiry:
An inquiry into the progress in implementing the recommendations of the expert group on Neonatal Services and delivery of the All Wales Neonatal Standards; including:
Arrangements for monitoring the implementation of the All Wales Neonatal Standards, in line with the British Association of Perinatal Medicine’s staffing standards and the Health Commission Wales review.
The Welsh Government’s long term strategy for improving neonatal care and whether it is seen as an integrated part of maternity services.
Consideration of how the Welsh Government plans to increase the number of neonatal nurses, midwives and neonatal consultants.
Funding arrangements for the development of round-the-clock access to dedicated neonatal transport services available to all units in Wales.
Increased support for parents.
The impact of NHS reforms on neonatal services in Wales.
Screening for hearing loss.
How to Submit Written Evidence
You should submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee, to arrive no later than Friday 5 March 2010.
If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to health.wellbeing.localgovt.comm@wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk.
If this is not possible, please send your written submission to :
Clerk, Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee, National Assembly for Wales, CF99 1NA.
Further guidance on the submission of evidence is attached.
We would be grateful if you could share this request with other interested parties or, where appropriate, any of your member organisations.
Membership of the Committee: Lorraine Barrett AM, Peter Black AM, Andrew R T Davies AM, Irene James AM, Ann Jones AM, Helen Mary Jones AM, Dai Lloyd AM, Val Lloyd AM, Darren Millar AM (Chair)
12 February 2010
Advice on Submitting Evidence
The Committee may call on those who have submitted written evidence to supplement it in oral evidence to the Committee. Please indicate in your response whether you would be prepared to give evidence in person.
Witnesses should be aware that once written evidence has been submitted to the Committee it is treated as the property of the Committee. Written evidence will be published on the Committee’s website, and extracts may subsequently be included in the report.
The Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data. If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published. You should provide a reasoned argument to support this. The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.
In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide. This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.
