Inverclyde consultation events being held as part of Clyde paediatric services consultation

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Patients, families and interested groups are being encouraged to attend two public consultation events in Inverclyde to discuss the future of paediatric hospital services for children from the Clyde area. 

The first event is being held at the Tontine Hotel on Monday, 09 January between 12.30-2.30pm. The second event, also at the Tontine Hotel, is being held on the evening of Wednesday, 11 January between 6-8pm. 

Anyone planning on attending either of the events is asked to register in advance in order to enable staff to set out the venue accordingly and send out information. Organisers want to hear as many views as possible and this will ensure they are heard. When registering, please advise if you require any support to attend, such as childcare or travel expenses reimbursed. 

The proposal to move the Paediatric Inpatient Services from Ward 15 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children was originally made in 2012. That engagement showed the preferred option was to transfer the inpatient service to the new Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) when it opened. 

The proposal is to proceed with this preferred option which would see paediatric emergency, elective inpatient and day case care transferring from the RAH to the RHC. 

Under the proposals, the majority of care provided to children would continue to be provided locally. Outpatient services, the specialist Community Paediatric service (PANDA), and emergency care for those who self-refer would all remain at the RAH. 

As part of the engagement process in September, audiences at public meetings in Paisley’s Glynhill Hotel heard from a panel of children’s doctors and senior nurse that the move would improve the care for children in Clyde by giving them access to world class facilities. 

Clinical staff already working at the new Royal Hospital for Children discussed a number of key benefits at the new hospital, including: 

• The latest technology and specialist children’s equipment available in the hospital including nine dedicated children’s theatres, five state of the art laparoscopic theatres, and a paediatric critical care unit of 20 intensive care beds and two high dependency beds
• The full range of paediatric specialists together working in one hospital, dedicated diagnostic facilities providing the full range of imaging services including ultrasound, CT, MRI and nuclear medicine studies on site
• On site access to the full range of diagnostic laboratory facilities
• A number of specialist adolescent facilities including zone 12, the medicinema and dedicated young people workers. There are also dedicated age appropriate facilities for younger children such as the teddy hospital
• Single rooms with en-suite patient accommodation within the RHC offering dedicated facilities to support parents 

The consultation has another month to run and I would encourage any parents, patients and carers who haven’t already done so to share their views on what the board is proposing. 

The consultation events being held in Inverclyde are an opportunity for people to come along and hear of the many clinical benefits of the proposed service changes and ask any questions they may have. 

The Royal Hospital for Children is one of the finest paediatric teaching hospitals in the UK, and the largest in Scotland. The entire focus of the RHC is around children and young people, with care provided in a child friendly environment. 

This proposal would see young patients from Clyde benefiting from the same first class, state-of-the-art facilities as other children who already attend the hospital from across the West of Scotland. 

This is not about the quality of care at the RAH. The quality of care has been good for many years. However, the RAH simply cannot match the facilities at the state-of-the-art specialist children’s hospital. 

To submit a response to the consultation, to find out more information, if you have any questions or to register for a consultation event, please contact Rachel Killick, Patient Experience Public Involvement Manager, by: 

• Calling: 0300 123 9987 (Free phone)
• Emailing: [email protected]
• Visiting: http://www.nhsggc.org.uk/inform-engage-consult/clydepaediatric
• Writing to:
  Patient Experience Public Involvement and Quality,
  4th Floor,
  West Glasgow ACH,
  Dalnair Street,
  Glasgow, G3 8SJ

Parking is available at the hotel. The Tontine Hotel, 6 Ardgowan Square, Greenock PA16 8NG