NeoMate
NeoMate is a smartphone app that aims to improve outcomes for newborn babies who require intensive care following birth. The app offers drug and fluid calculations, guides, and concise checklists to guide acute neonatal care.
Recognising that sick babies are often born unexpectedly in smaller hospitals without a tertiary neonatal intensive care service, the app aims to bridge the gap between regional centres and local peripheral hospitals by giving all staff the information they need to make decisions safely, for free.
Aims
NeoMate aims to help neonatal staff provide the best possible care for unwell babies in the hospital setting. The app offers drug and fluid calculations, guides, and concise checklists to guide acute neonatal care. The app particularly aims to provide drug calculation support to neonatal doctors and nurses, who are often under considerable stress during a neonatal emergency, making them naturally prone to prescribing errors.
Description
NeoMate is a smartphone app that helps neonatal staff to provide the best possible care for unwell babies in the hospital setting. The app offers drug and fluid calculations, guides, and concise checklists to guide acute neonatal care. NeoMate is based upon established guidelines used by the London Neonatal Transfer Service (NTS), an organisation that transfers unwell babies between neonatal units in London and the South East of England.
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Implementation
The app was formally launched in February 2015.
The app has been downloaded by more than 10,000 users, and feedback has been positive to date.
Suggestions for Further Implementation
The tool could be adapted to suit other neonatal transport services, or different patient populations (i.e. A&E setting).
The main hurdle to completion was attaining the official support of an NHS trust, which is currently required by Apple’s app publishing guidelines for medical apps. However, the consultants at the London Neonatal Transfer Team were a huge support, and the process of going through pharmacy, local governance, and MHRA approval was a very useful experience overall.
The app is endorsed by the London Neonatal Transfer Service, and drug calculations have been quality checked by the Trust neonatal pharmacy team. Checklists were created by a consortium of neonatal consultants, registrars and nurses. The app won an NHS Innovation Challenge Award in 2015. It is also MHRA certified.
Project Lead: Christopher Kelly
Organisation: London Neonatal Transfer Service