Health Minister Howard Quayle 'topped out' the ?4million project to develop a new neonatal intensive care unit at Noble's Hospital.

He was on site this afternoon to put in one of the roof slates of the building, which is due to open in February next year.

Mr Quayle said: 'The new unit will offer the very highest standards of care for critically ill babies, conforming to the latest best practice and the latest European and British perinatal medicine standards. The result of this work will be a state of the art neonatal unit of which the Island can rightly be proud.'

The current capacity for specialist care will remain at nine cots but there will be extra overnight accommodation for parents, extra space to improve isolation, resuscitation and privacy, as well as additional room for the storage of vital equipment.

Dr Prakash Thiagarajan, consultant paediatrician and neonatologist at Noble's Hospital, said: 'This is a significant investment for the future which everyone at Noble's Hospital is very grateful for. It will allow us to offer the very best care and state of the art services for seriously ill newborn babies in those crucial first hours and days of life.'

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