Each year, thousands of families across the UK require specialist neonatal care, with around 1 in 12 babies born prematurely.1 Prematurity remains one of the leading drivers of infant mortality, and increasing demand for neonatal services continues to place significant pressure on the system.2
Neonatal care is a highly specialised field, supporting some of the most vulnerable patients from the very start of life. Strengthening these services - and the workforce behind them - is essential to improving outcomes and giving every baby the best possible start to life.
Explore our work in neonatal care below.
Neonatology Technology Enabled Care
NEONATAL CARE IN THE NORTHWEST
The Northwest is the third most populated region in the UK with a population of 6.1 million, and a birth rate of about 77,500 annually. Neonatal units in the region care for around 7,400 babies annually.3
Following the COVID‑19 pandemic, challenges in accessing specialist services highlighted the need to review how neonatal and paediatric care is delivered across the region. This includes understanding how digital tools are currently used in neonatal care, and how they could better support patient monitoring, communication with families, and the neonatal workforce.
Neonatology Technology Enabled Care (NTEC) was a collaborative working project between Chiesi and Health Innovation North West Coast (formerly known as the Innovation Agency). The project undertook a landscape review of technology enabled care across neonatal units in the Northwest, exploring current practice, variation between services, and the challenges staff and families experience when using digital tools in neonatal care.4
Findings highlighted variation in the availability, integration and functionality of digital systems, alongside challenges related to IT infrastructure, staff training and digital confidence. The project also emphasised the importance of family‑centred approaches, including improving communication, reducing stress for families, and ensuring digital solutions are accessible and inclusive.
Learning from the project helps inform future opportunities to strengthen technology enabled care in neonatal services, supporting more consistent, efficient and family‑integrated care across the region.
The NTEC project is now complete.
Please click here to read the executive summary of the NTEC project.
References
- Child and maternal health profiles: commentary, May 2026 [Internet]. GOV.UK. 2026. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-maternal-health-profiles-may-2026-update/child-and-maternal-health-profiles-commentary-may-2026
- World Health Organization. Child mortality (under 5 years) [Internet]. World Health Organization: WHO; 2022. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/child-mortality-under-5-years
- Implementing the Recommendations of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review, NHS England and NHS Improvement; 2019; NHS England » Implementing the Recommendations of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review
- Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. English indices of deprivation [Internet]. GOV.UK. 2012. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-indices-of-deprivation
UK-CHI-2600287 | May 2026