Sandringham ED boosts paediatric specialists
Sandringham Hospital has seen a significant spike in the number of children visiting the Emergency Department over the past year – but they will be in good hands thanks to the two new paediatric specialists who have joined the team.
In 2015, around 9000 children presented to emergency with a range of illnesses and injuries, but that figure has grown almost 8 per cent over the past year.
To meet the increased demand, the hospital has employed two paediatric specialists to care for children and their families.
Corinne Dunningham, Paediatric Clinical Nurse Educator, and Robert Melvin, Clinical Lead for Paediatric Emergency Medicine, work together to train staff in working with children and ensuring patient families are fully informed, and provide optimum care for kids.
Corinne was formerly employed at the Royal Children’s Hospital, while Robert has many years’ experience working in emergency medicine.
Dr Melvin said hundreds of children receive top-quality care at their local hospital every month.
“We’ve seen a consistent 5-10 per cent increase in paediatric presentations month-on-month over the past year,” Dr Melvin said.
“Every month, we see around 700 children and of those, about 60 will be transferred to specialist care. All of our staff have been trained to work with children and their families but this year, we increased that level of care. If your child is injured or seriously ill then you shouldn’t hesitate to bring them in to emergency, but if it’s a minor complaint it’s usually best to see your GP.”
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