Specialist neonatal respiratory care for babies born preterm

Resource impact statement

No significant resource impact is anticipated

We do not expect this guideline to have a significant impact on resources; that is:

• the resource impact of implementing any single guideline recommendation will be less than £1 million per year in England (or £1,800 per 100,000 population) and
• the resource impact of implementing the whole guideline in England will be less than £5 million per year (or £9,100 per 100,000 population).

This is because we do not think practice will change substantially as a result of this guideline, and the majority of recommendations that are a change to current practice affect only a small population.

The recommendation to consider providing the Newborn individualized developmental care and assessment program (NIDCAP^®), to improve cognitive development in babies born at less than 27 weeks is a change to current practice. Where implemented, the cost of training is estimated to be around £10,900 to train 1 member of staff and around £12,000 to train 2 members of staff, over 2 years. However, because there are currently limits to the number of people who can be trained in NIDCAP® each year, the recommendation is not at present expected to result in a significant resource impact.

Specialist neonatal respiratory care services are commissioned by NHS England. Providers are NHS hospital trusts.