Nurses Day! - Birmingham Children's Hospital

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Having extensively used the KIDS Service over this weekend, I just wanted
to thank you for such a fantastic service that you all provide. It is not just the
securing of intensive care beds and retrieval, but more importantly the support
provided to the paediatricians throughout the region does not make them feel
isolated when faced with a very sick child – I think this is the most valuable part
of the service.
At a time when reconfiguration of children’s services is high on the agenda with
proposed fewer inpatient units, the model that KIDS provides for supporting sick
children and healthcare professionals away from the major centres provides an
excellent model for emulation.
Dr Sanjeev Deshpande,
Consultant Neonatologist, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
During 2012/13 the service received 1,668
referrals (an increase of 354 from 2011/12) for
advice and transport of young patients between
local hospitals and children’s intensive care units
in the Midlands, as well as to and from other units
across the UK. Of these, 1,275 were transported -
815 by KIDS and 456 on request by KIDS to other
teams.
Another 400 patients received advice and input
from a KIDS consultant which allowed them to
remain at their local hospital. Feedback from these
hospitals has been very positive. Parents and
carers of children who were able to travel with their
child to PICU in our new ambulances have told us
We’ve also had the builders in this year to create
a new state-of-the-art outpatient pharmacy, the
Medicine Chest, which is making it quicker and
easier for families to collect their prescription onsite
before they go home.
The brand new facility, which opened in January, is
bright, modern and child-friendly and gives families
access to specialist paediatric pharmacists to talk
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about their child’s medicine. It’s also home to a
high-tech automated robot which selects medicines
for dispensing.
Having our own dedicated outpatient pharmacy
means we can supply the most suitable medicines
based on our prescriptions which are tailored
specifically for children, ensuring they are of
the highest quality and cost effective. Since we
opened, waiting times have reduced dramatically
from 45 minutes to an average of just 12 which
means our families can get home quicker.