Welcome to Paediatric Critical Care

About our ward

Paediatric Critical Care at Leeds Children’s Hospital is one of the largest paediatric critical care units in the UK.

Children’s critical care has an extensive multi-disciplinary team which means that we can offer specialist care to children with a wide range of conditions. We work closely with our paediatric colleagues in other specialties which include cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, respiratory and long term ventilation, neurology and neurosurgery, general surgery, ear nose and throat (ENT) surgery, orthopaedic surgery, nephrology, hepatology and oncology. We are also able to access the neonatal and adult specialties for consultation when appropriate.

We have a team of around 120 nurses working in Critical Care.

Visiting

• 2 visitors on the unit per patient at any time.
• Parents/two named visitors can visit 24/7.
• Other visitors between 11am – 7pm and remains 2 people on the unit at a time.
• Siblings under 16 may visit with parents as an exception to the 2-person rule.
• Please speak with our nurse in charge if you have any queries.
• Please swap visitors off the ward during visiting times to always maintain two visitors per patient on the unit.

Parent facilities

• We have a parents kitchen located on the ward and a parent’s kitchen with sitting area located off the ward. Please note this room is for parents only.
• The Millie Wright charity funds the drinks and snacks provided in these areas and you can help yourselves to these.
• Please note these facilities are for parents/two named visitors only due to space available in these areas.
• Each morning, you will be offered tea and toast for breakfast at the bedside.
• Breastfeeding mums are entitled to lunch and tea – please tell us if you are breastfeeding or expressing.

Accommodation and parking

• We have family rooms within the hospital on B and C floor for you to be able to stay overnight close to the ward.
• These rooms are emergency rooms – at the earliest convenience you will receive accommodation in Eckersley house (dependant on your postcode) which has a kitchen/dining area and washing facilities.
• Please note that any property left in the rooms is done so at your own discretion.
• If your child is to step down to high dependency level care on PCC – there is the opportunity for 1 parent/named visitor to be resident overnight depending on their condition and where they are nursed on the unit. This remains at the discretion of our team.
• We can provide a parking permit for hospital grounds during your time on PICU. Please be aware, if you park outside of the designated parking areas, you are liable for any fines you may receive.

Family Care

• Our family care sister is available Monday – Friday 08:30am – 16:30pm to support you.
• Support can help you and your family emotionally, financially, and by any other means we may be able to throughout your time with us.
• We also have a play specialist to provide activities for the children to help them through different interventions using play.

Patient safety

• If a member of the team needs urgent help with their patients, you may hear our emergency buzzer and see members of the team rush to provide help.
• If this is to happen in the bay areas, please be aware you may be asked to temporarily leave the bay whilst we provide care to these patients.
• There are times when we turn the bay into a sterile area to perform sterile procedures for our patients – during this time we ask all parents and visitors to leave the bay so that we can maintain a clean and sterile environment and we will call you when it is safe for you to return.

Nursing Handover/Medical Ward Round

• At 07:30am and 19:30pm, the nursing team starts giving their handover of your child to the nurse taking over them for the next shift.
• We have no restrictions on parents’ presence during nursing handover, however we please ask you to not interrupt us and to ask any questions once we have finished so that we can ensure a safe and thorough handover of your child.
• Our consultants and medical team carry out their ward rounds in the mornings, usually after 09.00am.
• During this time, the nurse will raise any concerns for your child with the medical team and they will outline a plan of care for the day.
• Your presence is valued during the medical ward round, and once the consultant has completed their assessment of your child, they will give you a brief update on progress and plans for the day.
• Our medical team is on the ward 24/7 so should you need to speak with a doctor at any time, this can be arranged.

Work without fear

• We understand the stress and emotional pressure that a hospital admission can have on a child and their family.
• However, we do not tolerate physical or verbal abuse aimed at our staff and any incidences will be taken very seriously.
• We have a trust collaborative working to reduce violence and aggression towards our staff, to reach our ambition for all to ‘Work without Fear’.
• Our team are here to help and work together with you to care for your child, and we value this collaboration to ensure you are satisfied with all aspects of care that are being provided.
• If you have concerns about any part of being on critical care, please escalate these timely to your bedside nurse, the nurse in charge of the shift or the ward matron.
• If you are unhappy with how a concern has been dealt with following speaking with our ward staff and wish to discuss independently of the ward, please ask us how to do so.

Housekeeping

• Please hang your coats on the hooks provided in the corridor to prevent spread of infections.
• Please wash your hands when entering the ward and make use of the hand sanitizer and sinks as you feel necessary.
• If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask and we will do our best to solve these for you.

Further information and support

• If you need any extra support, please ask our team for anything and we will be able to signpost you in the right direction.