Children’s Outpatients

Children are seen in Paediatric Outpatients for appointments following a referral by their GPs, attendance in the Emergency Department or admission on a ward. They may also be referred from other hospitals for specialist opinion.

There are many different specialties which include Paediatric Surgery including Urology, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Diabetes, Paediatric Orthopaedics including Fractures, Ophthalmology, ENT, Neurology, Cardiology and many more. They take place on specific days of the week/month. These specialties are provided by a team of doctors, specialist nurses, dieticians, orthoptists, optometrist and paediatric orthopaedic physiotherapy practitioners.

We are a team of nursing staff, reception staff and play specialists working together to ensure effective running of the clinics providing support for parents, children and young people.

The patient journey

• When you arrive in the department, you will be asked to register at the reception desk to verify all patients’ details. Clinic delays are displayed on a board at the reception desk.
  
  
• Lengths/heights, weights and blood pressures may have to be recorded by a member of the nursing team.  You may also require investigations prior to your appointment such as xray or hearing test.
  
  
• When clinics run with long delays, you will be offered a pager/buzzer that will enable you to leave the department with the assurance of being contacted shortly before their turn to see the clinician. 
  
  
• After consultation the patient may require further investigations.

We offer a phlebotomy service within the department for patients attending the clinics for children/young people of all ages. We also offer this service for children under 5 years of age who have been referred by their GPs. This is by appointment only and parents are advised to call for these appointments.

There are various information leaflets in the department and an information display screen which provides information on health promotion/accident prevention and other general information such as:
The department has a NO HOT DRINK policy in the waiting area and parents are expected to supervise their children at all times.

We have a Patient Environment Tracker device that parents/children are encouraged to complete as feedback to provide information on areas for improvement.

Sensory room

We have a sensory room that is a specialised, fun room with a range of relaxing and child-centred activities that can help babies, children and teenagers cope with their hospital experience. This room supports children with special needs as the sensory room provides therapeutic senses and a quiet environment. This room is also used for individual play sessions for children who have high anxiety around procedures and treatments, so a calm environment is used to facilitate provide support for these children.

The sensory room is also used for breastfeeding parents to feed their babies.

There is a booking system in place to use this room, and bookings are made on an assessment of priority around each individual patient. Wherever possible we will try to accommodate for each patient’s needs.

We have a team of play specialists in the Children’s Outpatients Department to support your child. They use specialised play by using play preparation, distraction techniques and individual normalising sensory sessions to give knowledge and understanding around procedures that happen in a health care setting.

You can contact the play specialists on 020 3315 2566.