Children's Health - Paediatrics

We provide extensive healthcare services for children across our three main hospital sites as well as within the community. Children requiring care within our hospitals/Community Services will be referred by health professionals.

About our service

Child Health (Paediatrics) is the area of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of health conditions in children aged 0 to 16 years and transition to adult services for young people aged 16-18 years. This care is provided by many different health professionals experienced in the care of children in many different settings.

Play Specialists

The hospital play specialist staff are devoted to helping make a child, young person hospital stay or visit as positive as possible. Mid Yorkshire play staff consist of trained Hospital Play Specialist’s and Hospital Play Leader’s. All of our play staff are specifically trained to use their skills and knowledge in a diverse range of play to achieve different goals, from providing fun and enjoyment to preparation play in order to help children cope and understand any procedures they may be involved in. The play staff are an essential member of the MDT with a roll that is very different to any other professional within the hospital setting.

How the Play Staff can help your child

Play staff can help your child and you by preparing you for individual procedures,
Supporting phobias for needles or treatments. ie. Blood tests, theatre.
Support families especially siblings.
Supporting children/young people with specific needs.
Providing stimulation for the achievements of developmental goals.
Catering for your needs in both group and individual play session.

Why do we need play in hospital?

Play staff use play to address a child, young person individual needs, play empowers each child with information to enable them to cope and channel their anxieties. This ensures that they have a positive experience of hospital. Preparation play or general play is confidence building, it helps them to deal with fears or worries about attending hospital. Play is an important part of the medical services we provide for children and young people in hospital

Pinderfield’s Hospital School

We have an eight place classroom based on C Cluster on Gate 46 at Pinderfields Hospital. We also work with children at bedside. We cover all of the Children's Ward, Children's Burns and Spinal Ward.

We provide education for children and young people whilst they are sick or injured and support effective transition back to their own school.

If a child cannot attend school because they are in hospital, we will:

Liaise with children, parents, carers and medical staffiaise with children, parents, carers and medical staff
Contact the home school, if a child is expected to be in hospital for more than three days, to enable the provision of appropriate work, so that they do not fall too far behind their peers
Offer a range of curriculum based activities
Use ICT as an effective learning tool
Provide suitable conditions for inpatients to take public examinations such as GCSEs.

All work planned in the hospital school, is in line with the latest National Curriculum for all key stages, and based around topic areas.

Children will initially follow our National Curriculum based topics, then on day three of a child’s stay, our hospital teacher will contact the child’s own school to speak to their teacher. The child’s individual learning needs will be discussed and then appropriate lessons planned and delivered.

Paediatric Consultants provide an e-consultation service for primary care. This allows primary care practitioners to send through details of patients so paediatric consultants can provide advice or a clinic appointment depending on the needs of the child.