"Told we need to make a journey double the length"

Hello, my name is Sinead Duffin and I am the Service Manager in RBHSC. Thank you for taking the time to share with us your previous experiences when attending the Emergency Department (ED) in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHSC) with your son.

I appreciate that it can be a distressing time when your child is unwell. Regarding the comments that you have received previously encouraging you to attend the ED in your Trust of residence, I do acknowledge that the team in RBHSC ED will routinely encourage families from other Trust areas to use the ED within their Trust area. This is because, although RBHSC does provide regional services, the Emergency Department there is not a regional service.

The ED in RBHSC has experienced increasing numbers of attendances which has resulted in much longer waiting times for patient assessments and admission to an appropriate bed space. When bed capacity is limited, it is sometimes necessary to transfer a patient from RBHSC to another hospital where there is capacity available, if it has been deemed clinically appropriate to do so. As the Regional District General Hospitals provide excellent paediatric emergency care and inpatient services, and often have bed capacity available, the team in RBHSC ED do encourage parents to attend their local Trusts’ ED in order to avoid the need for a secondary move. There are of course exceptional circumstances, such as, when visiting an area outside of your home Trust.

I hope this response provides some clarity on what services the RBHSC ED provide. I do hope that your son has recovered well.