We provide a wide range of health services for children, young people and their families, both in hospital and in the local community.
There are two main children's units at Trafford General Hospital:
Our child health consultants treat most general paediatric conditions affecting children from birth to 16 years old.
Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust who manage Trafford Children & Young People's Service also provide community services such as the children's community nursing team in Trafford, the borough's school nursing service, the child and adolescent mental health service, the children's learning disability service and a wide range of other services. Community clinics are held to support and manage the care for children with developmental conditions.
(From 1st November 2011, in addition to appointment letters, we will also be sending out text appointment reminders to the parents and carers of paediatric patients coming in to hospital. The reminders will be sent out five-seven days prior to the appointment.)
You will find a full list of child health services provided by Trafford General Hospital, Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust and other providers in the Trafford area below.
Summary:
Trafford General Hospital
Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Other Services Available
Please note that we do not have an inpatient children's ward. Any children who need to stay in hospital overnight are transferred to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Wythenshawe Hospital or another nearby hospital.
Trafford General: We provide 24-hour A&E services for children and young people at Trafford General, with a dedicated children's area located within, but separate from, the main A&E.
We also have a dedicated children's Observation & Assessment Unit (OAU) located within, but separate from, A&E. The OAU is open from 9am-10pm 7 day per week and has two assessment rooms and two beds where children can be cared for and observed by experienced children's doctors and nurses for up to six hours. The unit is staffed with a paediatric doctor between the hours of 9am and 6pm and out of those hours is managed by paediatric nursing staff.
The children's area and OAU have been designed to be child-friendly with plenty of toys, paintings by local school pupils and a clean, bright atmosphere. A play specialist is usually available during the daytime to reassure and distract children during treatment or while they are waiting to be seen.
Children who need emergency care between 10pm and 9am are seen and treated by staff from our main A&E team in children's treatment rooms with support from on-call paediatric staff when necessary. Children who need to be admitted to hospital overnight are transferred to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Wythenshawe Hospital or another specialist unit.
Altrincham General: The minor injuries unit at Altrincham General provides nurse-led care for children and young people with minor injuries and illnesses.
Bed wetting (enuresis)
A nurse-led clinic is based at Altrincham General Hospital for children over seven years old who are bed wetting. Referrals to the clinic can be made by GPs or directly by parents/carers by calling the Children's Community Nursing Team on 0161 934 8333.
Children with emotional or mental health concerns can be referred to our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), which offers a range of assessment and treatment options for children and young people experiencing these difficulties. The team comprises child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, specialist nurses and other specialist therapists. Children and young people experiencing a range of emotional or mental health problems may be assessed by a member of the team and, together with family and carers, a treatment care plan will be agreed. A referral to the CAMHS team can be made via local GPs or other specialist workers with children.
Yvonne Mackereth is Head of Service for CAMHS.
Click here for more information about CAMHS
The Children's Community Nursing Team (CCNT) supports children and young people who need to be cared for by experienced paediatric nurses but do not need to be admitted to hospital. The CCNT are a team of qualified children's nurses and support workers who are dedicated and committed to delivering care closer to home for children and young people within the Trafford area. Wherever possible, we believe it is better for children to be cared for in familiar surroundings such as their home, rather than in hospital.
The team is based in the Children's Resource Centre at Trafford General, but cares for children across the whole of Trafford by visiting them at home to ensure they are receiving appropriate treatment and support. The CCNT also provides nurse-led clinics for eczema, constipation and enuresis (bed wetting) and is currently developing an asthma drop-in clinic.
The CCNT service currently runs from 8.30am-10pm, seven days a week. It works in partnership with our new Paediatric Observation and Assessment Unit (POAU) (see Accident & Emergency, above).
Children and young people with diabetes are managed by a specialist paediatric diabetes team that include the following staff:
• Dr Clare Wilkins, Consultant Paediatrician
• Louise Hopewell, Paediatric Diabetes Specialist Nurse
• Helen Whittaker, Dietitian
• Louise McDaid, Podiatrist
• Dr Ruth McIver, Clinical Psychologist
They are supported by the paeds nursing staff from the Children's Resource Centre and the POAU.
The Paediatric Diabetes Clinic is on alternate Tuesdays between 2pm - 5pm in the Diabetes Centre at Trafford General.
The Young Persons Diabetes Clinic is on the third Monday of each month between 3pm - 6pm in the Diabetes Centre at Trafford General. The Adult diabetologist Dr Stephens has responsibility for this clinic supported by the diabetes specialist nurses and dietitian.
Lisa Fern is the Nurse Manager of the Children's Community Nursing Team. The team can be contacted on 0161 934 8333.
The Children's Resource Centre opened in October 2010 and brings together day-case and outpatient care. It is located at the rear of the main building of Trafford General Hospital.
The resource centre has a 12-bedded day ward for children and young people having surgery, medical investigations or treatment such as blood transfusions. There is also a spacious outpatients suite for pre-operative assessments and clinics with specialist children's doctors. It has a playroom and teenagers' area and play specialists are on hand to help children relax and feel comfortable while waiting or being seen by staff. There are also facilities for mental health assessments by the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
The unit is decorated with a musical theme suggested by young people from Trafford. The reception desk is shaped like a drumkit and the nursing station has been built in the form of a piano.
Other staff working with children have office space in the centre, including the Children's Community Nursing Team, the health visitor liaison team and the Named Nurse for Safeguarding. This enables teams to work closely together to keep children and young people in Trafford safe from harm.
A famous face visited patients and staff on the unit in October 2010 (see right) - Philip Martin Brown, who plays grumpy English teacher Grantly Budgen in BBC school drama Waterloo Road.
Contact details:
Day ward - 0161 746 2149
Outpatients area - 0161 746 2710
Matron for Paediatrics - Sharon Boyden on 0161 746 -2777
Named Nurse for Safeguarding Children - Clare McNicholls on 0161 746 2586
Health visitor liaison - 0161 746 2366
We offer day surgery for children and young people in a range of specialties including ear, nose and throat (ENT), General Surgery, oral surgery and orthopaedic surgery.
Young patients coming to hospital for day surgery are cared for in the Children's Resource Centre. They also have their pre-operative assessment there. (A pre-operative assessment is an appointment where routine tests and checks are carried out to make sure a patient is fit for surgery as a day case patient. It is also another chance for patients to ask any questions they may have before their operation and familiarise themselves with the Centre and staff.)
Children who need to come into hospital as day cases - for example, for CT scans, transfusions or antibiotics that need to be delivered by a drip - are cared for in the Children's Resource Centre. More information is available above under Children's Resource Centre.
Paediatric Nurses offer a Paediatric phelebotomy service for children who require blood tests available in Resource centre. Appointment only service where parents or GP's can telephone Resource centre for an appointment between 9am-3am Monday - Friday excluding Bank Holidays
Wherever possible, we aim to see children and young people close to home so families don't have to make long journeys to hospital. Outpatient clinics are held in the Children's Resource Centre at Trafford General and Altrincham General and in local health centres and in schools. We offer general paediatric clinics in hospital and community settings. Neurodevelopment clinics are held in schools and community clinics. We also offer joint clinics at Trafford General Hospital with paediatric specialists from Royal Manchester Children's Hospital: these are a Renal clinic with Dr Mark Bradbury, and Neurology with Dr Richard Newton. Mr Millard has holds community dental clinic on Friday mornings in Resource centre
Most children are now cared for as day patients or can be safely discharged home from A&E or the Observation & Assessment Unit with any ongoing care being provided by the Children's Community Nursing Team, their GP or other healthcare teams outside hospital.
Those children who do need to be admitted to hospital overnight are transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital or another specialist unit. There is no overnight children's ward at Trafford General Hospital.
Trafford Children and Young People's Service (CYPS) aims to improve the quality of life, health, education and opportunities for young people in Trafford by bringing different agencies and services together to provide a more 'joined up' service. You can find further information at www.cyps.org.uk. It is a partnership between, Central Manchester Foundation Trust, Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust ,NHS Trafford and Trafford Council.
We provide the Child Health Information Service for Trafford. The Child Health Information Team is responsible for coordinating and notifying Trafford GPs, midwives and health visitors of all births in the borough; they are also responsible for the allocation of NHS numbers to newborns or other children who don't currently have one.
The Child Health Information Service also registers immunisations and vaccinations and paediatric development examinations. They input all the health screening results carried out on children such as Guthrie tests (heel pricks), obesity measures, MMR uptake and so on. They also notify all the key professionals in the Children & Young People's Service and Trafford PCT of any Sudden Unexpected Death of a Child in the borough (SUDC) to enable reviews and safeguarding procedures to be managed, if necessary.
