The Paediatric Hospital in the Home (PHITH) teams at Royal North Shore and Hornsby hospitals have had a very busy couple of years. 

The teams have been dealing with the large numbers of COVID-19 positive children in the community. Up until the end of January, a total of 404 infants, children and young people were cared for between the two teams.

Royal North Shore Hospital’s Head of Department of Paediatrics, Dr Carola Wittekind said the care involves a large volume of daily calls for medical and welfare checks whilst the patients are isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. 

“Admissions to PHITH followed COVID-19 outbreaks in our LHD over the past almost two years and also reflect changes to admission criteria based on ACI guidelines,” she said.

Whilst the service has been essential, it has come with a set of challenges for the teams. Like many healthcare workers, team members spent the festive season caring for those in the community with the virus. To ensure they were able to take some time off to recharge, the team worked together to rotate and ensure they all had a break.
 

On top of managing the sheer volume of patients, there are also challenges around communicating to the families of the younger patients.

“There has been some difficulties contacting some families and communicating the ever-changing rules in regards to testing and isolation,” she said.

Another looming challenge is the predicted increase of COVID-19 cases as schools return from holidays. 
Carola said the PHITH teams will continue to take a flexible approach to deal with the higher number of patients.

“The teams have demonstrated great flexibility and have readily adapted to changing care needs of families in our community,” she said.

“Our teams remain determined to continue serving the community and remain optimistic about the road ahead.

“It is privilege to be a part of a great team who works collaboratively and cohesively to provide a service with such excellent continuity and quality of care to families in our community.”