Great Ormond Street Hospital: How GOSH works with other specialist children’s centres
The Give to GOSH appeal for the hospital is entering its final week
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The most senior doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has paid tribute to the network of “excellent” children’s hospitals across the country.
As The Independent on Sunday’s Give to GOSH appeal for the hospital enters its final week, Dr Vinod Diwakar, the medical director at GOSH, says that the staff and volunteers who made GOSH so extraordinary are “proud” to be part of a wider network of NHS children’s hospitals, most of whom also rely on the generosity of their supporters.
He said: “We are very proud to be part of a wider network of excellent children’s hospitals across the UK. Very ill children need a broad package of care, so it’s vital that paediatric services work closely to share knowledge, expertise and learning – only then can we ensure our nation’s children receive the very best care and the future they deserve.”
Dr Diwakar’s comments came as the Give to GOSH appeal, run by The Independent on Sunday along with The Independent, i and the London Evening Standard, announced it has raised more than £3m for GOSH.
The appeal has highlighted the vital role that charitable donations play not just at GOSH but across the paediatric care system. Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett, chair of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Trust, said: “At a time when funds to support essential paediatric clinical care are under severe strain, it is hard for many children’s hospitals to provide the additional care and comfort that children and their parents need so critically at the most stressful time in their lives.”
Sir Thomas, a City veteran, philanthropist and former chief executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care, added: “We are fortunate indeed that the public support these hospitals and charity campaigns, such as the appeal The Independent on Sunday, Independent, i and Evening Standard have run so effectively. The generosity of the public never ceases to amaze me.”
The network of children’s hospitals includes:
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool
Working through the Children’s Alliance – a strategic group of children’s hospitals – Alder Hey works closely with GOSH. It treats around 275,000 patients a year, and last year, thanks to charitable donations, it was able to open a new hospital building. Alongside its clinical work it has built a new research, education and innovation centre.
Alder Hey is a national centre for neuro and craniofacial surgery, and is one of only four epilepsy surgical centres in the UK.
Sheffield Children’s Hospital, South Yorkshire
Sheffield’s children’s hospital provides community and mental health care, as well as acute and specialist services. Unlike GOSH the hospital does have an A&E unit as well as a number of specialisms, including trauma and orthopaedics, paediatric transport, genetics and neurosurgery. It also has national responsibilities for conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and the bone disorder osteogenesis imperfecta.
It treated 30,000 in-patients last year, while 161,000 patients were treated as outpatients or in A&E.
tchc.org.uk
The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, Northern Ireland
With 107 beds, the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children is the only hospital in Northern Ireland dedicated specifically to the care of sick children. As well as caring for children in Belfast, it provides most of the paediatric regional specialities for the whole of Northern Ireland.
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is one of London’s largest providers of children’s services, caring for more than 80,000 children a year.
The teaching hospital is the lead centre for specialist paediatric and neonatal surgery in north-west London and carries out the “most complex operations” on children and babies, said Dr Simon Clarke, the clinical director of Children’s Surgical Services. He added: “Services at Chelsea are unique in that we are a children’s hospital within an adult hospital. This is a huge advantage as we are able to tap into a lot of adult expertise and help children transition to adult care.”
Thanks to charitable support, the hospital has undergone major redevelopment to improve children’s wards, introducing state-of-the-art children’s operating theatres.
Great North Children’s Hospital, Newcastle
The Great North Children’s Hospital, which opened in 2010, is one of the largest paediatric hospital outside London. One of its partner sites, the Freeman Hospital, is a major cardiac centre, alongside GOSH, carrying out dozens of heart transplants a year. It works alongside the Department of Child Health at Newcastle University.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital, West Midlands
Serving England’s second largest city and beyond, the hospital cares for more than 90,000 children a year. It opened in 1862, is now a world renowned centre, and was named HSJ Trust of the Year in 2015. Dr Fiona Reynolds, the chief medical officer, said: “The world’s best healthcare services are joined up, and only by sharing expertise and collaborating can we offer the very best care to every child, young person and family who needs us. It’s our duty, and we will never stop looking for new ways to be even greater together.”
Its 3,700 strong team manages care with 34 specialist services, including the treatment of patients with some of the most complex heart conditions, chronic liver and kidney disease, serious burns, rare diseases and cystic fibrosis. It is home to Europe’s largest paediatric intensive care unit and houses a revolutionary new mental health service for under-25s.
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