Community health team helps nearly 2,000 children to avoid hospital

Health clinics for children in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale helped to reduce the number of visits to A&E, urgent care and GP practices during the busy winter period.

Paediatric Nurse Practitioner Clinics (PNPC), run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, ran from 31 October 2015 to 31 March 2016. During the period, nurse practitioners from the Rochdale borough Children’s Community Nursing Team saw 1,666 young people; providing assessment, treatment, advice and medication.

The clinics were available for children and young people from birth to 16 years, who were experiencing a range of illnesses, including: coughs and colds, sore throat, high temperature, ear ache, rashes, vomiting, loose stools, abdominal pain, asthma symptoms or who were feeling generally unwell.

GP practices across the Rochdale borough were able to refer those who met the criteria to the clinics, where they weren’t able to offer a same day appointment. The most common referrals made were for children aged between birth and four years, who had a cough (358), temperature (206) or a rash (127).

The clinics have run for the past 3 years, as part of Pennine Care’s commitment to providing care in the community. The aim is to help people avoid an unnecessary hospital admission, or ensure they can be discharged as quickly as possible, and to reduce demand on busy primary care and hospital services.

Lisa Reyburn, Service Lead for the Children’s Community Nursing Team, said: “The clinics aim to make sure as many children as possible can be safely and appropriately seen in the community during the busy winter period.

“By freeing up demand on GP and hospital services, we are providing care closer to people’s homes and helping to ensure that those with more urgent or complex needs can be seen more quickly.

Feedback from those who used the clinics showed that 99 percent would be either extremely likely or likely to recommend the service to their friends or family.

Rebecca Baxter-Hollow, a mum of two twin girls Poppy and Daisy, aged four years, has praised the clinics for promptly seeing her daughters after they were referred by their GP practice with concerns of low blood oxygen saturation.

Rebecca said: “I rang at half 11 and we were seen on the same day. The nurses did a thorough examination on the twins from head to toe. I’ve never seen them examined like that, it was so reassuring.

“I can’t sing the nurse’s praises enough, I would definitely recommend them – and have done, to my next door neighbour.”