Visiting the Emergency Department (ED) can be a stressful, and sometimes overwhelming, experience. A new design for the ED at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick is hoped to help provide increased support for families during this challenging time.
The new ED, designed in collaboration with staff, will have single rooms, the department's first Short-Stay Unit, a modern waiting area, and flexible spaces for private conversations, providing enhanced privacy and comfort for children and their families.
The design will also allow patients arriving by ambulance to have streamlined entry and close access to medical scanning, and will feature additional, larger clinical areas for treatment depending on a patient’s condition.
The reimagined design will benefit patients like 13-year-old Max, who suffered a head injury in the schoolyard, after he fell while attempting to retrieve a basketball from a roof.
"I only remember waking up in the ambulance, and I was getting a cannula put in my arm," Max said.
"I was a bit confused (when I arrived at the Emergency Department); I didn't know what happened."
Max was assessed and monitored in the ED before being admitted to the hospital’s neurology ward, where he spent the next five nights.
"I was sharing a bay with three other kids. Luckily, I was in the adolescent area, so they were kids my age, not babies," Max recalled.
Max's dad, Steve, said the care provided by staff at the hospital was exceptional, and is encouraged by the changes to the ED design to further enhance the patient experience.
"There would be nothing like privacy in that situation; it would be an absolute bonus. All Max wanted to do was return to his bed at home and have some peace," Steve said.
Dr Chris Webber, Emergency Department Director, said the new ED will be three times bigger than the current ED and will help support even more patients.
"We want to provide excellent care to all the children we see, and our new Emergency Department is going to help us continue to achieve that, and more."
The new ED is being built as part of the Sydney Children's Hospital Stage 1 redevelopment. The new hospital will also feature a new Medical Short-Stay Unit, Intensive Care Unit, Neurosciences Centre and a Cancer Centre that combines research and clinical care. There will be more areas for play, entertainment and relaxation.
Construction on the Sydney Children's Hospital Stage 1 and Minderoo Children's Comprehensive Cancer Centre is scheduled for completion in 2025. For more information about the project, visit the project website page.