The refurbished Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Hinchingbrooke Hospital has officially opened.  

The unit underwent a complete overhaul of its facilities as part of essential structural work on the hospital building.  

The ward was completely stripped back to rewire and redesign the overall layout.  

The Hunts Post: The recently refurbished Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital has been officially reopened.The recently refurbished Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital has been officially reopened. (Image: NW Anglia NHS Foundation Trust)

There is a parents’ room and dedicated space for a new mum, who may be bed-bound, to be with their baby.  

The unit also has a new nurses’ station, gas lines, air conditioning and staff room. 

And more “homely” features have been added, thanks to a generous £33,000 donation from the Huntingdonshire-based children’s charity Dreamdrops. 

These funds have been used to provide the parents’ room with kitchen essentials, decorate each room on the ward with a wall mural and buy new toys for siblings who are visiting.  

Anne-Marie Hamilton, the previous chair of Dreamdrops, and her successor Christine Luckham, were among those at the unit’s ribbon cutting ceremony. 

The Hunts Post: Anne-Marie Hamilton, previous chair of the charity Dreamdrops, officially opens the refurbished Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon.Anne-Marie Hamilton, previous chair of the charity Dreamdrops, officially opens the refurbished Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon. (Image: NW Anglia NHS Foundation Trust)

Deborah Milham, the ward's manager, said it was a “wonderful opportunity” to thank the charity.  

She said: “The unit looks and feels like a home-from-home environment. 

“Parents never choose to spend the first days, weeks or months in SCBU... 

“... so we do as much as we possibly can to create a welcoming environment, where they can bring siblings, read to their baby to encourage the bonding process and give them the opportunity to have a break in the parents' room.” 

The Hunts Post: Rooms at the newly refurbished Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital have been decorated with wall murals as part of a donation from the charity Dreamdrops.Rooms at the newly refurbished Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital have been decorated with wall murals as part of a donation from the charity Dreamdrops. (Image: NW Anglia NHS Foundation Trust)

Ms Hamilton added: “Dreamdrops are thrilled to see the money ring-fenced for SCBU being used to provide those little ‘extras’ for the unit that are not provided by the NHS.” 

Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon, was built with so-called RAAC reinforced concrete planks which are coming to the end of their operational life.  

In May, Health Secretary Steve Barclay announced that funding had been secured for a new hospital at the site and it will be rebuilt by 2030.

In the meantime, the Trust has a rolling programme to reinforce the roof on the main hospital site.