Life-saving virtual tech enables Cambridge consultants to care for babies remotely

In a UK first, seriously ill babies can now be cared for by Cambridge-based consultants without needing to be transferred, thanks to new life-saving virtual technology.

The cloud-based platform called LocANTS has been developed by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH). It effectively “parachutes” CUH consultants into other hospitals, allowing them to remotely monitor babies’ conditions. Using LocANTS, consultants can read notes, examine scans and X-rays, and check readings from ventilators, infusion pumps, and other equipment.

Baby Aurelia Hunt was one of the first patients to benefit from LocANTS. She was born prematurely at Colchester Hospital and became seriously ill with a suspected meningitis and sepsis infection.

Instead of being transferred to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge, Aurelia was safely cared for in Colchester, allowing her family to stay together.

For Aurelia’s father, James Hunt, it was a great help.

"It was a huge relief that the technology existed. Had it been different, it would have completely blown our family life for a couple weeks,” he said. "It was hard enough already and it would have made it even harder."

LocANTS has been in development since 2017 driven by Addenbrooke’s deputy medical director, Dr Sue Broster, paediatrician Dr Arun Dhar and London-based entrepreneur and IT consultant Ranadip Chatterjee.

Dr Dhar, who devised the original concept, said: “Although it has been a long time in the making, and we have drawn on the expertise of a great many people, it is absolutely worth it because LocANTS will undoubtedly save lives.

“Our specialist PaNDR consultants will be able to access systems at work, at home, or anywhere else they can use their laptops. Ultimately, we hope to offer this service for children up to 16.”

Cambridge University Hospitals, which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie maternity hospital, is trialling LocANTS at Peterborough, Colchester and Ipswich hospitals. If it is successful, it could be rolled out across the whole Eastern region, before making a bid to the NHS to implement it nationwide.

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Colchester Hospital neonatal unit senior nurse Lindsey Harding-Payne (right) consults with PANDR Consultant Lydia Harrington (left on screen) based in Cambridge.