Paediatric intensive care ambulance change concerns

The service offers ambulances specially equipped to look after sick children

The relocation of the emergency ambulance team for seriously ill children from Cardiff to Bristol has left health watchdogs disappointed.

The Board of Community Health Councils in Wales said it was not consulted over changes to the Paediatric Intensive Care retrieval service.

Some NHS staff have told BBC Wales that longer journey times could be harmful.

The Welsh NHS said it was offering "an even better and more robust service" for children in need of intensive care.

Under the new system taking effect on Tuesday, a unified team based in Bristol now looks after all transfers of children in mid and south Wales from a district hospital to a paediatric intensive care unit, as well as serving hospitals in south west England.

The NHS said all journey times will be within the three-hour standard, including trips between Bristol and hospitals in Aberystwyth and Haverfordwest.

It said the Bristol site was chosen because of "practical considerations of cost, clinical support and pragmatism".

'Vulnerable' patients

Daniel Phillips, from the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee, said: "We are coming together as one team to offer an even better and more robust service for children who are in need of intensive care.

"All major hospitals in Wales have staff trained to stabilise critically ill children and care for the sick child until the team arrive."

Tony Rucinski, chief executive of the Board of Community Health Councils in Wales, said: "We are disappointed we weren't consulted.

"We feel this is potentially a change to patient service and we will monitor its impact.

"We will be watching very carefully to ensure there is no reduction in service to this vulnerable group of patients."

The Paediatric Intensive Care Society welcomed the new system as an improvement, saying the team would only deal with transfers rather than other hospital commitments.