Temporary changes to children and young people’s services in North Central London

The first wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic put hospital sites under huge pressure. Hospitals across the North Central London (NCL) boroughs had to rapidly change the way they delivered their services to ensure children could be cared for safely.

Following a review reported in August, NCL CCG decided to make several temporary changes to children and young people’s services, to be implemented by October 2020.

The temporary changes are as follows:

• Barnet Hospital paediatric emergency department and inpatient unit, including child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), reopened on Tuesday 1 September 2020 having been closed during spring and summer.

• The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead will temporarily close its paediatric emergency department on Friday 25 September 2020 and inpatient beds the following week. There is a robust plan for the safe transition of patients to other sites where clinically necessary and for communication to stakeholders and the public about where to access appropriate care.

• The Whittington Hospital’s paediatric emergency department and inpatient unit will be expanded to meet forecast demand and provide care to local children and young people in Camden, Islington and the west of Haringey. Staff will be transferred to support the services here.

• North Middlesex University Hospital paediatric emergency department and inpatient unit will remain open.

• University College London Hospitals’ (UCLH) specialist inpatient and day care services, including cancer haemato-oncology and complex adolescents, will remain open. The UCLH children and young people’s emergency department which has been closed throughout spring and summer will remain temporarily closed.

• To ensure maintenance of access to elective services, GOSH will provide an enhanced role for urgent elective inpatient and some – but not all – day surgery, building on existing arrangements.