Our children’s teams provide specialist care for children, pre-birth to 17, who have cardiac (heart) and respiratory (lung) conditions.
As a national referral centre, patients are sent to us for diagnostic tests and, where necessary, surgical treatment.
Our work
We are internationally known for our children’s work in areas such as foetal cardiology (pre-birth heart conditions), paediatric cystic fibrosis, and severe asthma.
As a specialist heart and lung centre, research plays a key role in helping us develop new treatments, improve care for patients and help to inform decision-making across the NHS.
Read more about the research areas we specialise in.
Our children’s services
Children's services at Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital are part of Evelina London Children's Healthcare. Evelina London provides hospital care and treatment at Royal Brompton Hospital, Harefield Hospital, and its purpose-built children’s hospital on the St Thomas’ Hospital site.
Your child’s assessment, care and treatment may take place at more than one of our hospital sites. We will discuss this with you when we schedule your child’s appointment.
Using the latest technology and therapies, the paediatric team treats patients in a friendly atmosphere. We pride ourselves on the work we do with clinicians, allied health professionals, and play, family and educational support workers.
We also promote family-centred care, which is why we actively encourage parents to stay with their child while they are in hospital so they can be involved in their care at every stage.
Our transition to adult services help prepare young patients to transition from children’s to adult services, which begins between the ages of 16 and 18.
Find out more about the children’s services we provide:
Respiratory (lung):
- cystic fibrosis (CF)
- child to adult CF transition
- primary ciliary dyskinesia service
- sleep and ventilation service
- long-term ventilation service
- difficult asthma service
Cardiac (heart):
Our children’s wards at Royal Brompton Hospital
Paediatric intensive care unit (PICU)
The paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a 16-bed unit and cares for respiratory and cardiac patients who require intensive care following emergency and planned heart and lung surgery.
Patients are admitted to the unit after surgery, or transferred to us from district general hospitals or other tertiary care units. PICU provides care for:
- newborn babies with suspected heart disease
- children, from birth to 16, who have problems with their heart and lungs
- children with specific breathing conditions, such as bronchiolitis, tracheomalacia, Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular disorders
High dependency unit (HDU)
The paediatric high dependency unit (HDU) provides care for children who may be recovering from surgery, or who need extra physical support or close monitoring.
The unit has 10 beds split between PICU and Rose ward. Children are allocated wards depending on the level of care they require.
Rose ward
Rose ward specialises in caring for babies, children and young adults with cardiac and respiratory conditions. The ward also provides care for patients undergoing procedures or treatments that do not require an overnight stay.
Paediatric sleep and ventilation unit
Our sleep and ventilation unit monitors and cares for children with sleep and sleep-related conditions.
Our teams also work with:
Paediatric rehabilitation and therapy
Our team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians and speech and language therapies, help to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate children with a range of conditions.
Find out more about our paediatrics rehabilitation and therapy service
Paediatric outpatients
Children with respiratory illness, congenital heart disease and acquired heart conditions often need lifelong care and will have regular outpatient appointments with their clinical team.
Find out more about our paediatric outpatient departments at Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital.
Our staff
During your child’s stay, you will meet a range of people who are there to help and look after them. They include:
Medical staff
Your child will be under the care of a doctor – either a consultant paediatric cardiologist or a consultant in paediatric respiratory medicine.
The doctor is supported by a registrar and a senior house officer, who are also doctors. These doctors will be involved in your child’s care and take part in daily ward rounds. Visiting doctors, called fellows, also work with our consultants.
Children on PICU are also cared for by a consultant intensivist. This is a critical care doctor whose medical practice focuses only on the care of critically ill patients.
Other specialist staff, which may include specialists from other Trusts, may also be involved in your child’s care, such as those who specialise in:
- anaesthesia (medicine, such as sedation and painkillers)
- radiology (X-rays and scans)
- gastroenterology (stomach)
- endocrinology (glands)
- neurology (brains and nerves)
- nephrology (kidney)
Nursing team
All nurses are fully qualified with a range of skills and experience. Student nurses are always supervised by qualified nurses. Sisters and matrons are responsible for the overall running of the ward. A charge nurse is responsible for managing the ward during a shift and making sure things run smoothly. You can also speak to the charge nurse if you have any concerns.
Paediatric bed manager
The paediatric bed manager will call you to organise your child’s admission and answer any questions you have about your child’s stay in hospital.
Clinical nurse specialists
Clinical nurse specialists (CNS) are highly knowledgeable about your child’s condition. You may have met a CNS in outpatients, or at another hospital. The CNS can talk to you about your child’s diagnosis and care, and give support and advice – from the point of diagnosis right through to admission and after hospital discharge.
Family liaison team
The family liaison team can support your whole family during your child’s stay in hospital. They offer psychological and social support, and can help with practical problems like organising accommodation and parking.
Clinical psychologists
Clinical psychologists provide psychological support for children and their families. If you would like to find out more about this service, or would like a referral to the psychology team, please speak to the nurse.
Physiotherapists
Physiotherapists help children with respiratory (lung) conditions, and children who have had heart or lung surgery, to get moving again.
Dietitians
Dietitians give advice about eating and drinking, and ensure patients receive the level of nutrition they need. They can also organise catering for special diets needs and order specific food from the kitchen.
Occupational therapists
Occupational therapists offer advice and support to help children develop, recover, or maintain their skills for everyday activities.
Pharmacists
Pharmacists can answer your questions about your child’s medicines.
Speech and language therapists
Speech and language therapists help children who have difficulties communicating or swallowing. When your child comes to the hospital, please tell a nurse if you are concerned about your child’s speech and language, or eating and drinking.
Health play specialists
Play specialists use play to help children prepare for an operation or procedure. They can also help you and your child with worries about being in hospital. Play specialists can see your child at their bedside or in the playroom.
Nursery nurses
Nursery nurses support the nurses in providing care, and help children develop and learn.
Visit our page about your child's stay to learn more about what to expect while your child is in hospital.
The NHS Friends and Family Test
The NHS Friends and Family Test is a way of gathering your feedback about the care you or your child received while in hospital. The feedback is used to help drive improvement in hospital services.
You will usually be invited to submit your feedback before going home. You can find out more by visiting our NHS Friends and Family Test information page.