Carla Wilson new Paediatric Acute Care Facilitator supports children to be cared for at home

To reduce the current winter pressures on hospital services and ensure children can be cared for in the community whenever possible, Rochdale’s Children’s Community Nursing Team (CCNT) has appointed a dedicated Paediatric Acute Care Facilitator.

Carla Wilson took up the role on 5 January and has 18 years of nursing experience, both in the community and hospital. This includes 10 years with the CCNT – which is run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and provides a range of home-based care and treatment to children and young people, aged from birth up to 16 years, who live in Heywood, Middleton or Rochdale.

In the last year, the team has provided care and support to local families on 18,000 occasions, either face-to-face or over the phone.

Ms Wilson’s new role involves working with hospital staff to identify those who can appropriately and safely be discharged and cared for at home by the CCNT. She will also work closely with local GPs to identify children and young people who can appropriately be referred to the CCNT and avoid being admitted hospital unnecessarily.

Ms Wilson will visit local hospitals, including Rochdale Infirmary, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Bury’s Fairfield General Hospital and North Manchester General Hospital, all of which are run by The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. While there, she will link in with patient ward rounds and team meetings. She will also be visiting local GPs to raise awareness about the service and encourage referrals.

Her role is expected to deliver many benefits including freeing up hospital beds for children who do need hospital care, reducing demand on hospital staff and ensuring children can be cared for at home.

Ms Wilson said: “My previous experience means I am familiar with the referral processes and I already have good working relationships with a range of hospital colleagues and other healthcare partners.

“I get a real sense of satisfaction when I’m able to support a child to be cared for at home. They are so much happier and relaxed in familiar surroundings, with those who love them and evidence shows this can have a hugely beneficial impact on their recovery.

“Parents can also benefit from increased confidence to look after their child and feel reassured that they can contact the team with any concerns or queries they have.”

The Rochdale borough CCNT will accept referrals from all professionals and in some instances will accept self-referrals from parents.