Hospital Services

We are a 24/7 Children’s Emergency Department and short stay ward. We give emergency and urgent medical and orthopaedic care and treatment for people under the age of 16.  

Children with minor injuries can still be seen at our urgent care centres at Wansbeck, Hexham and North Tyneside general hospitals. These hospitals also provide a variety of outpatient clinics for children, as well as any planned care or surgery.

We provide emergency care and treatment for people under the age of 16. This includes day case orthopaedic trauma surgery on older children. Children who require more specialist care, some orthopaedic patients, and those requiring other types of surgery will be transferred to the Great North Children’s Hospital.

Patients may be seen by medical staff including:

• children’s nurse
• health care assistant
• nursery nurse
• paediatric or emergency care consultant
• advanced paediatric nurse practitioner
• resident doctor

We also provide day case surgery for orthopaedic patients.

Northumbria Hospital Children’s Department

Unwell or injured children may self-present in an emergency or be referred by a medical professional. Those with minor injuries may be re-directed to other services.

What happens in the Children’s Department

Give your details to a receptionist when you arrive. You will then see the triage nurse. They will talk to you to see how you are feeling and can give you some medicine if you need. You’ll then be asked to wait in our children’s waiting room until a nurse practitioner or doctor is ready to see you. Nursing staff and health care assistants will check on you to make sure you are okay while you wait.

At the end of your visit you will either go home or be asked to attend Children’s Outpatients for follow up at a later date. You may need to stay on the attached short stay unit in the hospital to have more treatment to help you get better. If this does happen, one parent can stay with you.

Some children who need to stay in hospital longer may need to go to the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle to get better. Again, don’t worry one of your parents can stay with you.

If you are 12 and over we will also:

• Offer you time to speak to our doctors alone, if you would like a bit of time to speak without your parent(s) or carer(s) in the room
• Talk about confidentiality and how we use the important information you share with us and take your privacy seriously.
• Ask you about your current health need(s) and also about healthy lifestyle, including exercise, diet, smoking and sex.

Special care baby unit

We have a special care baby unit at Northumbria Hospital working alongside our maternity services. The unit is supported by advanced neonatal nurse practitioners, acute paediatric consultants and nurses with skills in looking after new born children. The unit looks after babies who are born prematurely, or who need some special treatment before being discharged home. Babies requiring intensive care would need to go to one of the regional neonatal intensive care centres; such as Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle.