The Paediatric Endocrinology Service provides expert care to children and young people through outpatient clinics, during hospital stays and via day case intervations at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. We provide specialised endocrine management input to other specialty departments,working together to care for children with complex conditions. The multi-disciplinary team includes specialist consultants, nurse specialists and clinical psychologists. We provide a network of regular clinics throughout the south west.

Our expert care in complex and rare endocrine conditions is recognised internationally through our membership as a healthcare provider in the European Reference Network for Endocrinology and the European Reference Network for Rare Bone Disease.

Conditions we care for

Here at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children we have a Paediatric Weight Management Team. The team is made up of consultants, dietitians, a clinical psychologist, a diabetes specialist nurse and a social worker.

We help families review their current lifestyles and make changes especially around diet and activity to support transition to a healthier weight.

Find out more about the Paediatric Weight Management Team

The Bristol and Weston Paediatric Diabetes Service provides diabetes care to children and young people in the South West. here are approximately 500 children and young people who attend our service, which makes us one of the biggest children's diabetes teams in the country.

Our aim is to provide high quality seamless care for type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and young people. This involves providing multidisciplinary team input and cutting edge information on new therapies.

The team

Consultants

The consultants lead the diabetes team in the management of your child's diabetes. All newly diagnosed children are admitted to hospital for assessment and education on the management of diabetes. Your consultant will discuss with you and decide on the treatment plan for your child and the insulin regimen best suited to their clinical condition and age. A consultant will meet your child on the hospital ward and then in outpatient clinic a few weeks later. After that clinic visits will be every three months.

Paediatric diabetes specialist nurses

Paediatric diabetes specialist nurses (PDSNs) care for children with diabetes and their families. A PDSN will visit you on the hospital ward following your child's diagnosis and start the education required for safe management of diabetes in the home. Education continues in the community at home and visits are also made to schools and playschools to educate all carers in the care of a child with diabetes. View the teams contact details.

Dietiticians

The dieticians provide advice on food choices, which is an essential part of the management of diabetes, and ensure a child has a balanced diet. A dietician will visit you and your child on the hospital ward to assess their diet and advise on any adjustments needed. They will then provide local ongoing support at outpatient clinics and education sessions.

Clinical psychologists

We know that diabetes challenges many aspects of life for the child and family in different ways and at differing points throughout childhood and adolescence. This can lead to emotional distress and place strain on the young person and family members. It is important that children and families have access to appropriate support in managing this. The clinical psychologist is available to support you with a variety of issues and help minimise distress from diagnosis onwards. Please discuss with a member of the team if you would like help from the clinical psychologist or alternatively contact psychological health services.

The condition

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) or Brittle Bone Disease is a genetic condition characterised by bones that break easily. It can be mild or severe and this varies from person to person so a classification system has been identified to describe the different types of OI. For example, a person may have just a few or as many as several hundred fractures in a lifetime. As well as frequent fractured bones, people with OI often have muscle weakness, hearing loss, fatigue, joint laxity, curved bones, scoliosis, blue sclerae, dentinogenesis imperfecta (brittle teeth), and short stature amongst other medical problems. These all mean that care of a child or young person with OI benefits from input form a number of health professionals.

The service

The Bristol Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) Service provides expert care to children and young people with a diagnosis of OI. Our aim is to provide expert care to help affected children and young people and their families experience improved outcomes and quality of life, with fewer complications.

Our Service sees children with OI from across the South West of England and further afield. This is in a multidisciplinary clinic led out of Bristol, reaching out elsewhere in the South West. Care is delivered in clinics, home and and community and hospital stays for specialised treatments, intensive therapy inputs and expert orthopaedic surgery.

NHS England commission Bristol as a provider trust as a centre for Complex, Severe or Atypical Childhood Osteogenesis Imperfecta. As one of the four such centres in England, we work together to improve care.

Our expert care is recognised internationally through our membership as a Healthcare Provide in the European Reference Network for Rare Bone Disease.

Our Service offers patients and their families to be involved in leading research and recruit to several international multicentre trials exploring new treatments in OI.

We work closely with the Brittle Bone Society for patient support and to provide Patient Information Days. 

We also see children with rare bone disorders other than OI, either in our main endocrine clinic or in your Bristol Skeletal Dysplasia Service. Please see the endocrine tab above.