Providing Assessment and Treatment for Children at Home
PATCH working hours: Monday to Sunday, 8am to 6pm
What happens after my child leaves hospital?
Your child will be referred to the PATCH team by the doctors at the hospital. We will either phone you on the day you leave hospital or the next morning to arrange an appointment.
If you leave hospital in the evening, we will phone you the following morning as our service closes at 6pm.
If we have filled our appointment slots and are unable to see your child in the necessary timeframe, we will organise follow-up in the place you were discharged from, such as the Children’s Ward or the Emergency Department.
Telephone assessment
A nurse will phone to assess how your child has been. You will need to be with your child, as we will ask questions to determine their progress.
We can offer advice and answer any questions you may have.
Home visit
If you live within the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, or Hammersmith and Fulham, we can visit you at home.
One or two nurses may visit your child at home to review your child and check their progress. We will call to arrange a time and check a few details with you.
We will give you a timeframe for the visit and update you if we need to change the visit time.
During the visit we may:
check observations such as heart rate, oxygen levels, breathing rate and temperature
listen to and assess your child’s chest if they were discharged with breathing difficulties
administer intravenous medication if your child was discharged from hospital on antibiotics
assess eating and drinking
take blood samples if required
We will ask questions about how your child has been and answer any questions you have. If a follow-up visit or phone call is needed, we can organise this while we are with you.
We will document our visit and any telephone conversations in your child’s medical notes. We will also let anyone else involved in their care know we have visited, such as your GP, health visitor or social worker.
What happens once my child is better?
Your child will be discharged from our team and a letter will be sent updating their GP and any other professionals involved in their care.
About the team
Our team is made up of experienced paediatric nurses who support you and your child while they are unwell.
We aim to prevent children from being admitted to hospital, or having a prolonged hospital stay, by carrying out their care at home. We do this by providing support over the phone or by visiting your child at home to assess their progress.
We may speak to your child’s GP or hospital doctors about their care.
Sometimes, we may need to arrange for your child to be taken back to the GP or hospital if they become increasingly unwell.
Other sources of advice
Healthier Together provides advice on common childhood illnesses, including warning signs and when to seek urgent medical advice. The website can also be translated into other languages if needed.
Please use this email address for non-urgent queries only.
Information sharing
We may share your child’s information between relevant professionals to enable us to provide the best care for them. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please speak to a member of staff.
How did we do?
Please help us improve our service by filling in our short questionnaire:
In an emergency, please take your child to the nearest A&E or phone 999 for an ambulance.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
If you have concerns or would like to provide feedback about services, your care or treatment, please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
