Ward 12

Ward 12 is our Children’s day-case unit. Children are admitted to this ward for day case surgery, blood transfusions and other tests and procedures.

Ward 12 may occasionally be used as an overflow area for ward 30.

Planned paediatric admissions for surgery

We have an online guide to help you and your child through surgery, with videos explaining each stage of the journey.

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Unplanned/acute paediatric surgical referrals

At 8.00am, on the day you have been asked to attend, please go to the reception area on ward 12 (Monday to Friday) or ward 32 (Saturday and Sunday). Both wards are located on level 3 at the BRI.

Your child may need to have treatment that requires them to have a general anaesthetic. Please do not give them anything to eat or drink so that they are ready to go straight to theatre for an operation if needed.

If your child requires surgery, please refer to the planned paediatric admissions for further information.

Your child can have:

food and milk up to 2.00am on the day of the assessment
breast milk up to 4.00am on the date of assessment
sips of water or dilute cordial up to 8.00am on the day of the assessment

Do not give fizzy drinks, pure fruit juice or milk. Please ask a member of the team if you would like a drink for your child when you arrive.

If your child takes any regular medication, these can be given as normal before 7.00am on the day of assessment. Please bring all your child’s medications to hospital with you.

The doctors will try to assess your child as soon as possible. Sometimes they can be delayed if they have a patient who is very unwell and requires urgent care. If this happens the nurses will keep you updated.

You may notice that other children are seen by a doctor while you are still waiting. We have lots of different speciality teams and it is likely that these children are being seen by a different team to the one that you are waiting to see.

Once the doctors have assessed your child, they may decide that your child needs to have their treatment in theatre under a general anaesthetic. Your child will be booked onto the emergency theatre list. This list is for all patients in the hospital who need emergency (unplanned) surgery. We aim for children to have their surgery as soon as possible.

Sometimes the order of the list does change because of the urgency of the patients throughout the hospital waiting for surgery. Often these changes are unforeseen as it includes patients who arrive through the Emergency Department as well as those already in hospital. We will offer your child a drink if they are delayed going to theatre.

Play

There is a play room on the ward. Toys and activities can also be available on the bedside.

A play specialist will also be on hand to offer play, distraction or preparation.

Acorn room

The Acorn room is available for children and young people who have sensory processing problems. The room has a weighted blanket, projector, light box and bluetooth speakers for you to play your own sound/music.

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