Children's Health - Paediatrics
Child Health (Paediatrics) is the area of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of health conditions in children aged 0 to 16 years and transition to adult services for young people aged 16-18 years.
Children's Health - Paediatrics
We provide extensive healthcare services for children across our three main hospital sites as well as within the community. Children requiring care within our hospitals/Community Services will be referred by health professionals.
About our service
Child Health (Paediatrics) is the area of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of health conditions in children aged 0 to 16 years and transition to adult services for young people aged 16 to 18 years. This care is provided by many different health professionals experienced in the care of children in different settings.
Paediatric Consultants provide an e-consultation service for primary care. This allows primary care practitioners, for example GP, to send through details of patients so paediatric consultants can provide advice or a clinic appointment depending on the needs of the child.
Play Specialists
At the hospital, the play team help make a child or young person’s hospital stay or visit as positive as possible. Mid Yorkshire play staff include trained Health Play Specialists and Hospital Play Leaders. All of the play team are trained to provide fun and enjoyment and can use preparation play to help children with any procedures they may need. The play staff are essential members of the team with a role that is very different to other professionals within the hospital setting.
How the Play Staff can help your child
- Use techniques to help prepare and distract your child for individual procedures.
- Help children cope with fears, phobias and misconceptions.
- Support patients and families.
- Provide play activities to encourage fun and enjoyment.
- Offer one to one and group play sessions catered to the child’s needs.
Why do we need play in hospital?
Play staff use play to address a child or young person’s individual needs. Play empowers each child with the information to enable them to cope and channel their anxieties. This ensures that they have a positive experience in hospital. Preparation play or general play is confidence building and play is an important part of the medical services we provide for children and young people in hospital.
About the team
The Mid Yorkshire play team consists of qualified Health Play Specialists and Play Leaders who provide play opportunities for children and young people whilst they are receiving healthcare.
The play team have knowledge and skills in supporting and facilitating play opportunities for patients and families. Our aim is to ensure all paediatric areas are as welcoming as possible, build positive relationships and offer a selection of play techniques delivering a high quality of daily play activities whilst your child is in hospital.
We use our skills to prepare patients for treatments and procedures; we distract children during this time and can provide post-procedural play once the treatment is completed.
Pinderfield’s Hospital School
We have an eight place classroom based on C Cluster on Gate 46 at Pinderfields Hospital. We also work with children at bedside. We cover all of the Children's Ward, Children's Burns and Spinal Ward.
We provide education for children and young people whilst they are sick or injured and support effective transition back to their own school.
If a child cannot attend school because they are in hospital, we will:
- Liaise with children, parents, carers and medical staffiaise with children, parents, carers and medical staff
- Contact the home school, if a child is expected to be in hospital for more than three days, to enable the provision of appropriate work, so that they do not fall too far behind their peers
- Offer a range of curriculum based activities
- Use ICT as an effective learning tool
- Provide suitable conditions for inpatients to take public examinations such as GCSEs.
All work planned in the hospital school, is in line with the latest National Curriculum for all key stages, and based around topic areas.
Children will initially follow our National Curriculum based topics, then on day three of a child’s stay, our hospital teacher will contact the child’s own school to speak to their teacher. The child’s individual learning needs will be discussed and then appropriate lessons planned and delivered.