BAPM have published a document 'Calculating Unit Cot numbers and Nurse Staffing Establishment and Determining Cot Capacity.' The document aims to help professionals determine optimal cot numbers and neonatal nurse staffing for individual units within a network and to facilitate decisions about admission when a unit is close to capacity.
It provides supplementary guidance to BAPM Framework for Practice - Service Standards for Hospitals Providing Neonatal Care (3rd edition) (2010).
The guidance is endorsed by NHS England and includes a foreword from Dr Jacqueline Cornish, National Clinical Director, Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood and Dr Matthew Jolly, National Clinical Director for Maternity Review and Women's Health.
They say "this guidance from BAPM describes a pragmatic approach to staffing of neonatal services which recognises that perfection must not be the enemy of the good. In addition to following this guidance it is important that provider trusts work together as a network to cross cover and support services dealing with peaks in demand."
