BCHC staff with child and parent image

Services

Children's Services

Children's Rapid Response Team

Aims to prevent children and young people with acute illness or deterioration in their condition from being admitted to hospital or attending A&E.

About our service

The children's rapid response team comprises professionals with extended experience in caring for children with complex healthcare needs.

 

Our nurse practitioners and senior nursing staff are highly qualified with additional assessment skills and most hold the non medical prescribing qualification enabling them to carry out a full assessment and diagnosis of presenting conditions in a timely manner.

 

The team also includes a senior respiratory physiotherapist.

 

 

Who is children’s rapid response for?

This team will enhance the care delivered to children and young people that are already known to the children’s community nursing and palliative care service.

 

Rapid Response Team image

 

What are the aims of the service?

The aim of the service is to prevent children and young people who have an acute illness/deterioration in their condition from being admitted to hospital or attending Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments.

 

The team will visit families at home to prevent them from having the disruption of going to a hospital.

 

Rapid Response Team - house image

 

Support can be offered for:

  • Enteral feeding management
    • Re-passing of nasogastric tubes/gastrostomies.
    • Problems with supplies/feeds/sore or leaking stoma sites.
  • Medication problems where admission may occur
    • If you have run out of medications or feel your child needs an increase in medication in order to treat presenting symptoms.
  • Acute illness
    • Children with very complex healthcare needs can become unwell when they develop common childhood conditions such as coughs, cold, temperatures, mild infections.
    • The team will work with families to enable these children to stay at home during these episodes if this should be theirs and their parents’ wishes.

 

 

When is the service available?

7.30 am - 10.00 pm, seven days a week.

 

Overnight telephone advice will be given for all children on the Children's Community Nursing/ Palliative Care / Rapid Response caseload. Children that are receiving end-of-life care, or who have complex symptom management, will also be offered a visiting service out of hours.

 

There are strict criteria for visiting support out of hours. The nursing team will discuss this with families if they feel this is needed.

 

 

How can you make a referral?

Professionals, parents and carers can refer to the service, which is based with the existing Children's Community Nursing and Palliative Care Team at Lansdowne Health Centre.

 

Depending on the type of referral, information can be taken over the telephone or from a referral form. It is anticipated that children will only be on the rapid response caseload for a short period of time.

 

If your child is not already known to the Children's Community Nurse and Palliative Care Team, they can be referred for support from rapid response, as long as they meet one of the referral criteria for these teams.  A referral will be required to Children's Community Nursing and Palliative Care before a rapid response referral will be accepted.

 

After an episode of care or intervention, children will be discharged. Once the child has been discharged, a new referral will need to be made if the team are required to see the child in the future.

 

If you require any further information on this service, the Rapid Response Team can be contacted on 0121 245 5805.

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