A rapid-response team that brings emergency treatment to the
bedsides of critically-ill children in hospitals across the region
has completed its 2,000th mission.
The South West Paediatric Retrieval Service, which is a
partnership between University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation
Trust and Great Western Ambulance Service, is based at the Bristol
Royal Hospital for Children and provides intensive care to babies
and children - wherever in the region they fall sick.
The number of children requiring emergency transfer from the
service has risen from 66 in 1997 - its first year - to almost 250
annually. The children are moved from their local hospitals to the
Children's Hospital's paediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
When a call is received that a child is in need of intensive
care in a hospital that does not have children's paediatric or
neonatal intensive care facilities, a mobile team of doctors and
nurses is dispatched to the child's bedside. There, the child is
stabilised and transferred back to PICU with full intensive care
support and monitoring throughout their journey.
Maria Pooley and John Barriball, of Camelford, North Cornwall,
are among the thousands of parents whose children have now
benefited from the retrieval service. Their son Shane was born with
a life-threatening heart defect at the Royal Cornwall Hospital,
Truro.
The retrieval team was called to transfer him within hours of
his birth to the Children's Hospital in Bristol, where he was able
to receive heart surgery.
Maria said: "The retrieval team was fantastic. Without it, Shane
would not have been able to receive the care he needed to pull
through his ordeal."
Children such as Shane who are treated by the service are
desperately ill, with conditions such as heart disease, meningitis,
pneumonia and kidney failure.
Members of the retrieval team are trained to care for patients
while travelling on the move at high speed.
The team transports the youngsters to specialist intensive care
at the Children's Hospital from an area ranging from Truro to
Swindon and Cheltenham and Gloucester. It also transports children
requiring emergency heart surgery from South Wales.
A transport team consisting of an intensive care consultant,
junior doctor, intensive care nurse and two Great Western Ambulance
Service crew is on constant 24-hour standby.
The team can be dispatched within 30 minutes to travel to a
child's bedside. On the outward journey they are in constant
communication with their destination and offer advice about a
child's treatment.
On arrival, the team ensures the child is fit and stable for
transfer to Bristol and can spend as long as 10 hours working to
improve a patient's condition.
The family of a sick child can also travel with the service to
Bristol, where arrangements can be made for their overnight
accommodation.
The number of children needing emergency transfer to Bristol has
increased fourfold since the service began in 1997, so that last
year the team brought almost 250 youngsters to PICU.
The team comprises children's intensive care nurses and nine
consultants, together with a rotating group of doctors who come to
PICU to gain experience in the field.
Dr Stephen Marriage, who has headed the service's medical team
since 2001, said: "Over the years, the hard work of a small group
of dedicated nurses, doctors and ambulance staff has resulted both
in many young lives being saved and improved recovery for many
children.
"It has been a privilege to have helped 2,000 youngsters and
their families through the most difficult times of illness and
injury."
PICU senior nurse/matron William Booth added: "Thousands of
young lives have been saved by the skill and dedication of my
colleagues. I am immensely proud to be part of that team."
Tim Lynch, chief executive of the Great Western Ambulance
Service, said: "This is a perfect example of how NHS Trusts are
working in partnership to benefit patients. It is very rewarding
for our staff to be able to provide such a vital service to
families across the South West."
The Bristol Royal Hospital for Children is one of eight city
centre hospitals managed by the University Hospitals Bristol NHS
Foundation Trust (UHBristol).
For further information, contact Ian Probert at the UHBristol
press office on 0117 342 3751 (email pressoffice@UHBristol.nhs.uk)
or call Debbie Pugh-Jones, communications manager, Great Western
Ambulance Service, on 07967 646517.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The South West Paediatric Retrieval Service was set up in
response to 'A Framework for the Future', a national report to the
NHS Executive. The report, published in 1997, reviewed children's
intensive care provision and concluded that "a paediatric retrieval
service should be funded and staffed on a 24-hour basis in each
geographical region".
- The South West Paediatric Retrieval Service is funded directly
by the South West Regional Specialist Health Authority.
- The number of children requiring emergency transfer by the
South West Paediatric Retrieval Service has increased from 66 in
1997 to almost 250 during 2006.
- The South West Paediatric Retrieval Service is run jointly by
the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the Great
Western Ambulance Service.
Posted: 11/05/2007 13:27:24 by Kate Birch
