‘At the beginning of 2020 we took delivery of 14 new Maquet devices which the Trust funded to replace our aging but ever reliable Stephanie ventilators. We still have the Stephanie ventilators but they are being phased out. For now the Trust is storing them in case of a significant 2nd wave in the winter.

 The new Maquet devices have proved very successful- they are able to deliver ventilation, non invasive ventilation, CPAP and high flow all from one device. This makes them very efficient, avoids equipment changes for the baby and saves space. 

 They also adjust support levels precisely according to the baby's diaphragm movement (NAVA- neurally adjusted ventilatory assist)- this is novel technology and we are the first neonatal unit in the UK and one of the first in Europe to use this technology extensively in pretem babies especially for non invasive ventilation. NAVA also offers the advantage of greater comfort, less sedation needed and higher extubation success rates. Sandeep has described this in papers and we continue to document this as a centre which is accumulating the most experience with NAVA.

 We recently reviewed our respiratory support equipment and our plan is to increase the amount of Maquets (which provide all modes of respiratory support + NAVA), phase out CPAP stand alone devices and not to purchase more Vapotherms.

 The Maquet provides high flow and all the other modes in one device and so far has been robust.

 The Trust has confirmed that they cannot provide funds for us for more Maquets with Covid and other financial pressures. The Maquets are also neonatal specific so don't get used for adults.

Each Maquet device costs £30 000, ‘ Neonatal Consultant, Dr Donovan Duffy