Broseley baby Arlo is face of hospital's £2 million charity campaign
Little Arlo Watson faced an uphill struggle when he came into the world four months early.
The youngster, from Broseley, weighed just 755 grams and has since been transferred eight times by a team which provides the specialist care required to move seriously ill babies and children from one hospital to another in the West Midlands.
Now, at eight-months-old, he has become the face of a new £2 million charity campaign.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s Critical Journeys Appeal is aiming to transform the patient experience of the KIDS/NTS service – the newly merged Kids Intensive Care and Decision Support (KIDS) Service and Neonatal Transfer Service (NTS), hosted at the hospital.
It is an advice, stabilisation and transport service dedicated to the management of critically ill youngsters in the West Midlands.
The appeal will raise money to kit out four critical care ambulances with the same, and latest life-saving medical equipment, enabling the service to respond faster and more effectively.
Since 2013, there has been a 23 per cent increase in the number of babies, children and young people requiring ambulances in the West Midlands.
Arlo, who was born at 25 weeks, is just one of over 2,000 babies, children and young people moved by the KIDS/NTS service every year.
Arlo’s mother, Laura Watson, aged 29, said: “Arlo’s situation has at times been critical and has involved multiple transfers from one hospital to another in the West Midlands, including the paediatric intensive care unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the neonatal intensive care unit at Birmingham Women’s Hospital.
“The KIDS/NTS team have been amazing. When they arrive they command control of the room and we always feel like we’re in expert hands. They’re always kind and reassuring, providing highly professional and skilled care.”
Arlo spent 200 days between Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital, Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Birmingham Women’s Hospital before he was allowed to come home.
Laura, who has two other children with husband Sammy, added: “Arlo simply wouldn’t be here without the KIDS/NTS service,” she added.
“They were the absolute experts who got him to where he needed to be, with minimum fuss and maximum skill.
“I cannot put into words what they mean to us, but we will be grateful to them for the rest of our lives.”
Funding state-of-the art-equipment for the fleet of four critical care ambulances will remove the need to share equipment between ambulances, ensuring the KIDS/NTS service can respond to simultaneous demands and increase response times.
Money raised through the Critical Journeys Appeal will also fund an upgrade in infrastructure, improving the call centres call quality and conference call facilities, helping distraught families over the phone until the KIDS/NTS transfer team arrive.
The appeal will also enable the KIDS/NTS service to continue to deliver specialist care with compassion, by providing parents and children with added comforts such as phone chargers, snacks, teddy bears and DVDs as a welcome distraction in their time of need.
Dr Alex Philpott, consultant for neonatal medicine and neonatal transport medicine at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are committed to providing the best service possible for all our sick children.
“Upgrading equipment and fully kitting out all four ambulances will effectively take our service from a gold standard service to platinum, helping us to be response-ready and allowing us to move more patients with the same level of specialist equipment used in specialist care.”
To get involved with the appeal visit www.bch.org.uk/criticaljourneysPeople can also text TIME18, followed by the donation amount, to 70070.
