Overview
The department has:
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Ten-bedded paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) (four bed bays and four single cubicles) where beds are used flexibly to accommodate PICU and PHDU patients so the numbers of patients vary.
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Rose ward - a 36 bedded ward area (three x six-bedded bays, nine cubicles, four bed Paediatric High Dependency (PHDU) area, and five bed day care unit).
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A dedicated paediatric outpatient department.
These areas accommodate patients requiring investigations and treatments of a wide variety of cardiothoracic and respiratory conditions.
Staffing
The department is led by the senior nurse for critical care, supported by a modern matron for paediatrics, an operational senior nurse for paediatrics, three paediatric ward sisters, and a number of sisters in PICU. This senior team, in conjunction with the clinical educators, provides the nursing team with continuous clinical support and advice.
Although both units employ a large proportion of children's trained nurses, staff without this qualification are welcome and supported by in-service training which is provided by clinical educators. Well established induction and mentorship programmes ensure that all staff, irrespective of their previous clinical experience, are well supervised while they become competent in their new role and achieve their initial objectives.
The department provides an environment that encourages education and research and professional and personal growth. Assistance with funding and study leave is given to enable staff to develop and consolidate their professional skills. Cardiac, respiratory, high dependency and intensive care nursing modules are all available from local universities. Conversion to registered children's nurses, supervised practice and return to nursing courses are easily accessible and supported within the directorate.
Our service to patients
Being a tertiary referral centre our dedicated team of highly skilled professionals provide a holistic service to the children and their families.
Utilising the very latest technology and therapies the paediatrics team is innovative, providing highly technical and ‘state of art’ treatment but in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. To ensure this the directorate operates within a framework of family centred care, where parents are actively encouraged to be resident within the hospital so they can be involved in their child’s care.
Family accommodation is provided limitedly either within the ward area or in nearby dedicated self-contained accommodation.
Our hospitals
Harefield Hospital has a paediatric outpatient department which, along with the outpatient department at Royal Brompton Hospital, provides optimisation of medical management for childenn with congenital and acquired cardiac disease before and after surgical management of congenital cardiac defects.
Staff in both parts of the unit have extensive knowledge and experience in foetal cardiology and provide support and advice for families when an antenatal diagnosis of a congenital cardiac defect has been made.
Transitional care is given to children prior to their sixteenth birthday when their care is transferred to an adult cardiologist or respirologist.
Career development
Leave and financial support are also available for national and international conferences as well as study days in order to enable nurses to maintain their registration in accordance with the NMC's continuing professional development guidelines. The Trust acknowledges that individual skills are required to nurse within these specialised areas and recognises this.
