New advanced incubators enhance care for newborns

Buscot Ward, the special care baby unit at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, has received four new state-of-the-art incubators, thanks to the incredible generosity of three local charities: Babies in Buscot Support (BIBS), (Newbury-based) New Life Special Care Babies, and Royal Berks Charity.

Together, these charities have raised an outstanding £94,860 to fund this vital equipment, which will provide lifesaving support to premature and critically ill babies.

The new generation incubators offer advanced features designed to create a safe, controlled environment for these vulnerable newborns. Their key innovations include:

• A tilting mattress platform for improved positioning, ensuring optimal comfort and medical care.
• A built-in phototherapy unit providing essential treatment for jaundice, reducing the need for additional equipment.
• An external x-ray cassette tray, allowing imaging without disrupting temperature stability.
• A specialised air curtain that helps maintain warmth, even when access ports are opened, minimising temperature fluctuations.

These improvements provide optimal protection and specialised care to help tiny patients grow stronger during their critical early days, ensuring they receive the warmth, stability and medical support needed to thrive. By minimising stress and promoting healthy development, these advanced incubators give premature and critically ill newborns the best possible start in life.

Sarah Critchley, Chief Executive at BIBS commented: “We are overjoyed to have funded two of the four incubators, it’s great to see this improved technology making a difference for so many babies who receive such wonderful care through the dedication of nurses, doctors and the wider NHS team here on Buscot. By collaborating with New Life and the Royal Berks Charity we have been able to achieve so much more together – a real success story!  We are indebted to the local community who have enabled us to achieve this with the fundraising and donations – namely our Reading Half Marathon teams in 2024 and 2025 and also kind donors to our Incubator Appeals.”

Trevor Goodall, Founder and Chief Executive of New Life added: “We are so thrilled to be involved in working alongside the Royal Berks Charity; and so pleased we are able to contribute to making a difference to so many little lives. As a Charity we love nothing more than seeing all our hard work come to good use. It’s these exact reasons that keeps us fundraising so we can continue to give the best possible starts in life. As always a huge thank you to all our New Life supporters as without them this would not be possible.”

Image (left to right): Trevor Goodall, Jo Warrior, Sarah Critchley and Liz Josif