Liverpool Women's Hospital is NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Foundation Trust

An NHS foundation trust is part of the National Health Service in England and has gained a degree of independence from the Department of Health and local NHS strategic health authority.Foundation Trusts are represented by the , .-Function:...

 in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The Trust uses the Single Transferable Vote

Single transferable vote

The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...

 voting system to elect its Members' Council.

History and architecture

In 1985 three hospitals, the Women's Hospital in Catherine Street, Liverpool Maternity Hospital, and Mill Road Maternity Hospital, joined together under the management of the Liverpool Obstetric and Gynaecology Unit. This became a NHS trust

NHS Trust

A National Health Service trust provides services on behalf of the National Health Service in England and NHS Wales.The trusts are not trusts in the legal sense but are in effect public sector corporations. Each trust is headed by a board consisting of executive and non-executive directors, and is...

 in 1992 and changed its title to the Liverpool Women's Hospital NHS Trust in 1994. In 1995 the three hospitals merged and moved into the present hospital, a new building in Crown Street. This was designed by the Percy Thomas Partnership

Percy Thomas Partnership

Percy Thomas Partnership was a trading name of the award-winning British architectural practice originally set up by Percy Thomas in Cardiff, Wales in 1911/12. Percy Thomas and his practice put their name to a number of landmark buildings in the United Kingdom including the Wales Millennium...

, and is constructed in red brick with white cladding, and light blue metal roofs. Outside the main entrance to the hospital is a sculpture entitled Mother and Child created in 1999 by Terry McDonald.

Funded research

Bliss

Bliss (charity)

Bliss is the UK charity that helps care for premature and sick babies. They support families, fund research and campaign for improved hospital resources.Its patron is HRH The Duchess of Gloucester and its chief executive is Andy Cole.-History:...

, the special care baby charity are currently funding research at Liverpool Women's Hospital into parenteral nutrition for premature and sick babies.

Other funded research projects at the Trust include;

• the LAMB (Liverpool Archive of MRI in Babies) study looks to use MRI scans to understand how nutrition and medicines affect the development of the brain, liver and hips in new born babies.

• the TINN (Treat Infections in Neonates) study aims to find more information about the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin including safety, most effective dose and other factors that may influence the way babies respond to the drug. This information may help other babies in future.

• TINN 2 (Treat Infection in Neonates 2) aims to carry out an evaluation of an infective agent (Azithromycin) for the treatment of infections in preterm and term neonates.

• Detection of Genomic Structural Variations using Next Generation DNA Sequencing is a study that will examine potential benefits of a new technology called ‘next-generation DNA sequencing’ to detect changes in chromosomes. These changes are often the cause of developmental delay, learning difficulties, birth defects and other problems. We hope that in the future, next generation DNA sequencing will be able to provide a diagnosis for more patients with genetic disorders. It could provide information to help their doctors to manage their care and also help with genetic counselling for their families.

• Baby Skin Care Research Programme: randomised, assessor-blinded controlled trial comparing an infant skin-cleansing product with water in infants.

• Fit for Birth: The aim of this project is to improve the care of pregnant women in Liverpool so that there are fewer complications during pregnancy and improvements in long term health.

• Does metformin reduce excess birthweight in offspring of obese pregnant women? A randomised controlled trial of efficacy, exploration of mechanism and evaluation of other pregnancy complications.

External links

• Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust