PRESS RELEASE
6 September 2010
Campaign will help parents pick the best care for children
SENIOR doctors have launched a campaign to remind parents and carers of the emergency treatment options for children.
Advertisements in local newspapers, as well as posters in schools, children’s centres and nurseries, will remind parents that seriously ill or injured children should be treated at the RoyalBlackburnHospital’s emergency department.
Minor illnesses and injuries can be treated at urgent care centres, which are available at both BurnleyGeneralHospital and the RoyalBlackburnHospital. Minor injuries can also be treated at AccringtonVictoriaHospital’s Minor Injuries Unit.
Dr Claire Smith, consultant paediatrician and clinical director for children’s services at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “It is clear that there is still some confusion over where children should be taken for treatment. Parents and carers often instinctively take children to the nearest healthcare facility to get the fastest treatment, but this might not necessarily be the most appropriate place.
“When a child needs treatment, it is important that parents and carers take a minute to think about the specific illness or injury, and what type of care they are likely to need.
“Serious symptoms like significant breathing difficulties, drowsiness or unresponsiveness, heavy blood loss, deep wounds and severe burns need highly-specialist assessment and treatment.
“Carers should call 999 or take the child to the RoyalBlackburnHospital, where a huge range of emergency care specialists are immediately available, both in the emergency department and in the large, high-level children’s unit.”
“But in most cases, the problem is more minor and can be treated at an urgent care centre or a minor injuries unit. A call to NHS Direct or a visit to the service’s online symptom checker can point you in the right direction.”
Dr Mike Ions, a GP in Brierfield and Chair of NHS East Lancashire’s GPs committee, added that a call to the family doctor can also help parents make the right decision. He said: “The awareness campaign has been launched to remind parents of the difference between the emergency department and the urgent care centre. It is most important that parents understand these messages because the emergency department is surrounded by all the high level support that may be needed to treat serious illness or injury whereas the UCC is not.
“For minor illnesses, a call to your GP’s surgery can also help, either through over-the-phone advice or by arranging for you to see an out-of-hours doctor close to your home.”
The centralised emergency department at the RoyalBlackburnHospital opened in November 2007, and since then East Lancashire has seen a marked fall in mortality rates among patients admitted as emergencies.
In December 2010, children’s inpatient care will also be centralised at the RoyalBlackburnHospital, with an extended range of specialist consultants and modern equipment available.
Dr Smith said: “Very sick children are cared for in the RoyalBlackburnHospital’s children’s unit. After centralisation, the unit will be one of the largest in the UK, supporting a big team of specialist children’s doctors and state-of-the-art equipment.
“We are reinforcing our advice to parents and carers to help ensure children are taken to the right place, first time, every time, so that families can make the most of our excellent children’s services.”
