Planned changes to Eastbourne paediatric department explained - 'we are not transferring any services to the Conquest'

A review published last month by the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust described planned changes to paediatrics pathways at the Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH).

The review described aims to ‘develop an emergency floor with service co-located to reduce unnecessary patient moves, bringing the clinicians to the patient’.

This means all urgent care treatment for paediatric patients will be carried out in a dedicated area in the emergency department . However, a spokesperson for the NHS Trust has urged that this is where the ‘vast majority’ of paediatric patient care already took place.

Some of the treatment was, until recently, offered in the Short Stay Paediatric Assessment Unit at the DGH, which was set up to ‘support urgent care’. Hit by staffing challenges, the unit reportedly closes earlier in the day ‘than is ideal’, and has been completely closed on weekends since July 2022, the review said.

The unit, which will now be used for paediatric outpatient appointments, saw just three to four children on average each day.

“Eastbourne DGH provides urgent care for the majority of paediatric cases in the emergency department and urgent treatment centre, and previously a small number of children were supported by the Short Stay Paediatric Assessment Unit, which is some distance away from the emergency department”, the spokesperson added.

“During 2022/23, nearly thirteen and a half thousand children presented to our emergency department (ED) and, of these, 341 were transferred to the assessment unit for further review.

“The improvements we have introduced mean that all children will be seen in the paediatric area in ED and there will be increased paediatric expertise to ensure children are seen sooner, reducing waiting times."

However, some residents still have concerns about the impact these changes could have on the ‘quality of children’s healthcare’, according to Josh Babarinde, parliamentary spokesperson for the Eastbourne and Willingdon Liberal Democrats.

Others have raised concerns over whether patients will be transferred to Hastings Conquest for urgent care.

Addressing this, the NHS Trust spokesperson said: “It is important to note that patients that currently receive their care at Eastbourne DGH will continue to receive their care there, we are not transferring any services to the Conquest.”

"Seriously ill children that are treated by the ambulance service are taken to Conquest already and any care requiring an overnight stay is also provided at Conquest.

"This has long been the case and isn't affected by these changes.”

Fears over the removal of an on-site consultant paediatrician have also been raised by residents and local clinicians, according to Mr Babarinde.

The NHS Trust has confirmed that ‘paediatric consultants will be available on call if needed, which is how the previous model operated for the majority of time’.

In addition, there will now be advanced paediatric nurse pactitioners in the emergency department ‘which gives an additional level of expertise’, alongside emergency department consultants providing medical care.

A public meeting, organised by Mr Babarinde, is set to be held tomorrow evening (Wednesday, January 10) to ‘collect the views and experiences of residents’. The Lib Dem candidate said hospital bosses have declined his calls to ‘halt their changes and open a full public consultation’.

For any concerned parents and carers, the DGH has specified what to do if you need to seek medical help for your child.

“Please contact NHS 111 online or by phone for advice and they can direct you to the most appropriate place for the care your child needs,” the spokesperson said.

"If your child is clearly seriously unwell and needs immediate clinical treatment, you can bring them directly to our emergency departments and urgent treatment centres at Eastbourne DGH and Conquest Hospital.

"These facilities are available 24 hours a day to provide the high quality treatment and care that your child needs.

"If your child is too unwell to bring safely into hospital yourself, please call 999 for an ambulance.”