Local MP Stephen Lloyd visited the Friston Children’s Unit at Eastbourne DGH to meet staff and see the work of the unit.
Stephen Lloyd MP said: “I found my visit to Friston Children’s Unit enlightening. The work of this wonderful team, many of whom have been with the paediatric unit for years, was absolutely inspiring. We all know they’ve been through some challenging times over the past few years but their ambition for the children and their determination to keep improving the children’s service at our DGH was an inspiration. Their Matron, Liz Vaughan, was someone I’ve known for a long time, so for me to hear directly from her just how confident she is of the future successful development of local paediatric services was very reassuring to me.”
Matron Liz Vaughan said: “We were delighted to show Stephen around the unit for him to chat to the unit’s doctors, nurses and admin staff. He showed real interest in the work we do to care for local children and their parents. He recognised the benefits of our philosophy that children should only admitted overnight if their care cannot be provided safely as a short stay. Offering assessment and treatment on the unit enables a child to return home quickly which is good for both them and their parents.”
The Friston Children’s Unit contains a Short Stay Paediatric Assessment Unit for treating children who don’t need to stay overnight in hospital and an outpatient unit. Children having an operation, who can go home the same day, are also cared for on the unit.
The Friston Children’s Unit care for around 5,000 children a year which includes around 2,000 attending as an emergency. Around 500 attend a year for day surgery and the remainder attend for various tests.