Parents of Hull’s youngest hospital patients will now be able to visit their babies round the clock after the city became the first neonatal unit in Yorkshire and Humber to introduce a new security access system.
Hull Women and Children’s Hospital has introduced the £12,000 biometric fingerprint access system at its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), paid for by the Baby Unit Fund.
People with parental responsibilities for babies undergoing treatment on the 26-cot unit, which is a regional tertiary unit caring for some of the sickest babies in the country, will register their fingerprints on the secure system as soon as their babies are admitted.
NICU Matron Francesca Matthews has worked with Emily Hunter, Neonatal Governance Lead, to introduce the new system, ensuring approved parents and guardians can visit their child 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without having to wait for staff to admit them onto the unit through the existing buzzer system.
Francesca said: “We’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated to the fund over the years because it’s only through their generosity that this has been possible.”
“This new access system means we can now offer a first-class service in family integrated care, using the latest and safest technology.
“It has taken more than two years to have the system installed because all governance and security protection linked to people’s biometrics had to be in place first, to protect all of the babies who come to us for treatment.
“We now have a secure system where approved parents who wish 24/7 access to the unit can use their fingerprint on special pads outside the entrance to get onto the unit without waiting for staff to ‘buzz’ them in.”
Parents and guardians will be asked if they wish 24/7 access when their baby is admitted to NICU and must give consent before registering their biometric fingerprint. Their fingerprint will then be scanned onto a system linked to security pads outside the entrance to the unit, allowing them to use their biometric details to get inside.
Only those with parental responsibility will be eligible for the biometric system, with other family members still having to use the buzzer to gain access to NICU.
Once a baby is no longer receiving care on the unit, the fingerprints of their parents and guardians will be deactivated and removed from the system.