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What we do

Children’s Services at Bradford Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BTHFT) provides acute, elective and community services to the young population of the city of Bradford; which is currently approximately 150,900. Services are offered at both Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital.

Children’s Services at Bradford Royal Infirmary includes an inpatient ward (ward 30), day-case ward (ward 2) and a children’s clinical decisions area (ward 32) with nine short-stay beds. We also work closely with community care teams to support children when they are discharged from hospital.

Childrens and Young Person's Unit

Wards 30 and 32 are collectively referred to as the Children’s and Young People’s Unit.

Ward 32

Ward 32 is a clinical decisions area to which children are referred from a variety of sources including Accident and Emergency, GPs, midwives, and community nursing teams. Children with ongoing health problems can also self-refer. Patients are assessed in the clinical decisions area by the paediatric or surgical teams and a decision will be made about the need for further care.

Ward 32 has nine short-stay beds, where children stay for up to 24 hours, after which they are sent home or admitted to the ward for further care. Children may be discharged home into the care of our community nurses or the ACE team, provided they meet the referral criteria.

Ward 30

If a child requires further treatment they may be moved to ward 30, a 41-bed inpatient unit which provides treatment for medical and surgical conditions.

Children and young people are admitted to the ward both acutely (emergency admission) and electively (planned admission) for a variety of conditions. The ward includes a stabilisation area for children who are clinically very unwell and require ventilatory support; children can be cared for here until they are transferred to a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Bradford does not have a PICU. Children may be transferred to other units with the help of the Embrace team, the regional children’s transport team who provide safe transfer of patients between centres.

Ward 12

Ward 12 is a children’s day case unit; children attend for planned or acute (emergency) surgery and will go home after treatment or be transferred to ward 30 if they are not able to go home within the day.

The ward also runs a haematology service which gives regular blood transfusions and treatments to children with complex blood disorders. The service also carries out day-case medical procedures such as food challenges for children who suffer from food allergies and other day-case tests.

Ward 12 is open from 07:30 to 20:00 Monday to Friday, with the exception of Tuesday when it remains open until 21:00. The service also offers a hand clinic, dressing clinic and pre-op clinic.

St Luke's Hospital

Services at St Luke’s Hospital include a children’s outpatient department, child development centre, and children’s community and continuing care nursing teams. We also have a palliative care service, continence service and nurse specialist and medical secretary teams.

Conditions we treat

We care for children with:

  • Meningitis
  • Sepsis
  • Chest infections
  • Viral infections such as bronchiolitis
  • Constipation
  • Diabetes
  • Mental health issues
  • Cellulitis
  • Complex neurodegenerative conditions
  • Fractures
  • Abscesses
  • Head injuries
  • Metabolic conditions
  • Cochlear implants
  • Tonsilectomies
  • Bleeding disorders
  • Complex respiratory conditions

These are just a few of the conditions we see on the children and young person’s unit. The children of Bradford are cared for by a committed medical, nursing and support team.

The medical team consists of consultants, specialist registrars and junior doctors as well as advanced nurse practitioners.

The nursing teams include senior and junior sisters, staff nurses, healthcare assistants and nursing associates. Nurse specialists are also involved in planning care for children with complex needs.

The support team features play leaders, housekeepers and healthcare assistants. We also welcome student nurses at all levels of training from the Bradford School of Health and surrounding universities.

The surgical teams include staff from orthopaedics, ENT, Maxill facial, general surgery and urology and plastics.

All teams work in collaboration with physiotherapists, dietitians, speech and language therapists, pharmacists and psychologists in order to offer the best possible care for each child and young person. Ward 30 has its own schoolroom and the teaching staff work remotely from there to support children of school age on ward 2. The schoolroom is open during term time.

All three wards also have their own playrooms supported by a fully qualified nursery nurse who provides expert access to distraction techniques as well as play.

The whole service is ably supported by the Trust’s management and administration teams.

Specialist clinics

We hold specialist clinics for the following groups of patients:

  • Epilepsy
  • Rheumatology
  • Diabetes
  • Asthma
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Nephrology
  • Haematological disorders

We also hold clinics which are supported by visiting consultants from other hospitals in the following areas:

  • Metabolic disease
  • Cleft lip and palate
  • Cardiology
  • Paediatric surgery
  • Endocrinology
  • Genetics
  • Neurology
  • Urology
  • Nephrology

Clinical nurse specialists

Our service has an outreach/specialist nursing team. The specialist teams provide supervisory care for children and young people with a wide range of problems and liaise closely with our medical staff.

Specialist nursing services are provided in the following areas:

Cystic fibrosis and PCD (primary ciliary dyskenesia)

  • Blood disorders
  • Epilepsy
  • Metabolic Disease
  • Asthma
  • Continence
  • Enuresis
  • Surgical conditions
  • Rheumatology
  • Child development

Children's Services in the news

Useful Links

Interested in joining our team?

Our talented and compassionate staff care for a diverse population, making Bradford a special place to work. Choosing the right people is key to our success. If you think you’ve got what it takes, please contact us by email at careers@bthft.nhs.uk to discover more about our latest opportunities.

How to recognise if your child is seriously ill

For more information, please watch the short video below presented by Consultant Paediatrician Mat Mathai, and download our information leaflet, which is designed to help you monitor your child’s condition if they have a raised temperature. Both also provide guidance on when to ask for help and describing symptoms.

Contact details

Ward 30: 01274 364394
Ward 32 CCDA: 01274 382311
Ward 12: 01274 364380
St Luke’s Hospital Children’s Outpatients: 01274 365423

Address
Bradford Royal infirmary
Duckworth Lane
Bradford
BD9 6RJ

Opening times

Monday – Friday 09.00 – 17.00

Visiting policy

Our visiting policy for the children’s wards is ever changing because of COVID-19 and the local and national restrictions.

Currently our restricted visiting policy is:

  • No children or young people to visit the ward under 18 years of age.
  • Parents/carers may swap if essential once in a 24 hour period if they are the parent/carer of a COVID negative child.
  • Parents/carers must not swap if they are with the parent/carer of a COVID positive child.
  • Parents/carers will not be able to leave the ward for any reason except to swap over. Meals and refreshments for children and their parent/carer will be provided on the ward.

Who we are

Children's Business Unit - Management Team

General Manager for Children’s and Neonatal Services: Rob Guest
Head of Nursing for Children’s and Neonatal Services: Kay Rushforth
Matron for Children’s Services: Ruth Tolley
Matron for Neonatal Services: Kelly Young
Matron for Community and Specialist Services: Jamie Steele
Contact can be made with the above via Caroline Guy – PA for Children’s Services on 01274 364264.
Ward Managers 30/32: Natalie Stephenson and Michelle Wilson – 01274 364394
Ward Manager Ward 2 (Day Case Unit): Claire Hall – 01274 364353
The Paediatric Service has a very active research team in advancing practice with participation in many clinical trials.

The consultant team

General paediatric consultants

  • Dr Simon Frazer
  • Dr Kirsty Haslam
  • Dr Anil Shenoy
  • Dr Jo Sims
  • Dr Sally Pollard
  • Dr Farhana Khalil
  • Dr Matt Mathai
  • Dr Rebecca Bardgett
  • Dr Ruth Skelton
  • Dr Eduardo Moya
  • Dr Shaun Gorman
  • Dr Catriona McKeating
  • Dr Helen Berry
  • Dr Uma Jegathasan
  • Dr Ellen Mosely

Child development/community paediatric consultants

  • Dr Stella Yeung
  • Dr Kate Wildig
  • Dr Nick Wood
  • Dr Hannah Webb
  • Dr Vishakha Phatak
  • Dr Annette Jackson
  • Dr Vishakha Phatak
  • Dr Annette Jackson
  • Dr Nagat Al-Kabir
  • Dr Judit Imreh

Coronavirus screening for children

We have produced a short film for children attending Bradford Royal Infirmary for coronavirus screening which explains the process to them. The film features some of our own superheroes and can be viewed below. #ScreeningsNotScary

Photo gallery

Parents

Parents’ beds are available at every bed space on the ward so that a parent/carer can remain with their child.  We have open visiting for parents/carers (one may stay overnight). All other visitors may visit from 11am until 7pm. We ask that there are no more than three visitors per bed (this includes children).

We have a comfortable parents’ room with a fridge and microwave so that families can bring in their own food during their stay.  The parents’ room is a child-free zone due to there being hot food and drinks but also so that parents can rest when they able to do so.  Shower facilities are also available for parents too.

The Children’s Services Clinical Business Unit incorporates the Neonatal Service; please refer to their profile page for further information.

Accessibility

Please see the AccessAble pages on Children’s Services (Paediatrics) at Bradford Royal Infirmary and accessible parking. Information on general car parking at the hospital is available here.

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Feedback, complaints and compliments

We greatly appreciate feedback; we are always working to improve our service for all patients. Friends and family feedback cards are available on the wards to complete and return to staff. Alternatively, please contact us on the above numbers and a member of the management team will be happy to talk to you.

Patient information leaflets

If you would like any information on your child’s illness/surgery or care after an illness/operation, please see https://www.nhs.uk for advice. This site will also advise on how common conditions should be managed at home and when you should seek medical advice.