We are listening - to families

Jim Murray

Paediatric Services have been working with the Out of Hours Service to try and reduce unnecessary transfers to hospital for children and young people.

When families contact NHS 24 concerned about their child’s health, they are often referred to one of the Out of Hours centres for a face-to-face assessment. If the child has a condition which requires a period of monitoring they would normally be transferred to the Paediatric Unit at Wishaw General Hospital with their parent/carer. This often resulted in a few hours of observation on the ward and then a discharge home.

We aim to provide safe, effective person-centred care to all of our patients all of the time and we try to ensure that as much as possible, the timing and methods by which you contact and use services or supports are flexible and can be adapted to your personal needs.

The Clinical Director for the Paediatric Service led a review to see what medical conditions routinely resulted in transfer to hospital for observation. The review identified four common conditions that could potentially be monitored safely in the Out of Hours centre by Paediatric Nurses to prevent unnecessary transfer to hospital. The Paediatric Nurses are in regular contact with the Paediatric Consultant at Wishaw General Hospital.

Dr Donna Corrigan – Clinical Director for Paediatric Services pictured with Charge Nurse Jane Thomson and Staff Nurse Rachel Bell who have been providing support in the Out of Hours centre at Hamilton Monday-Friday over the past three months to test this new model of care.

They monitored children and young people affected by:

Bronchiolitis - Bronchiolitis is a common lower respiratory tract infection that affects babies and young children under two years old.

Gastroenteritis - Gastroenteritis is a very common condition that causes diarrhoea and vomiting. It's usually caused by a bacterial or viral tummy bug.

Pyrexia – a fever or high temperature.

Acute Asthma/wheeze - Asthma is a common lung condition that causes occasional breathing difficulties.

Families attending the centre have told us that they found the service to be accessible, supportive and helpful and they were relieved that their children had avoided a visit to the hospital.

Early results show that fewer children have been transferred to the Paediatric ward and the children who were, needed to stay in hospital for one night or longer.

This new model of care has been welcomed by the General Practitioners in the Out of Hours Service and has also resulted in reduced demand on the Scottish Ambulance Service for transfers to hospital.

Following the early success of this approach, we are planning to provide this service seven nights a week in the Out of Hours centre at Hamilton.

If you have an experience of Paediatric Services you would like to share, please speak to a member of staff, respond on Patient Opinion, or visit the “Your Feedback” Section of the NHS Lanarkshire website to see the other ways to get in touch www.nhslanarkshire.org.uk