In a first of its kind partnership, Knowsley Health & Wellbeing has teamed up with experts at the hospital to bring ‘Alder Hey @ Knowsley’ to locals. The new service means that children needing certain types of specialist paediatric care will no longer be required to attend the Liverpool-based hospital, but will have easy access much closer to their home.
Four Knowsley Primary Care Resource Centres now host the Alder Hey @ Knowsley service, and have the expert staff and skills required to treat children with ailments including: asthma, eczema and growth concerns.Three members of specialist Alder Hey staff run clinics in Knowsley, practising for a minimum of 18 hours per week.
Out patients and follow up appointments are currently available through Alder Hey @ Knowsley, and over the next few months, ear, nose and throat (ENT) services will also be launched, meaning that illnesses such as glue ear can also be treated closer to home.Rosemary Hawley, MBE Chair of NHS Knowsley said: “Our research has shown that many families in Knowsley don’t have their own transport, so getting to Alder Hey regularly isn’t convenient for them at all. At Knowsley Health & Wellbeing we are committed to bringing quality services closer to home and aim to do this via our new service.
“Alder Hey @ Knowsley means that families will not need to travel into Liverpool to receive the top class services that Alder Hey offers, and the patient experience for the children involved will be much less daunting.
“Our aim now is to redirect families who have traditionally travelled to Alder Hey to the new local services, or at least give them the option of where the consultation takes place.”
If your GP has referred your child to general paediatrics at Alder Hey and you would like to be seen closer to home, please call 0151 252 5358.Sue Thoms from Alder Hey said: “We’re delighted to have launched Alder Hey @ Knowsley and initial feedback from families in the Borough has been positive. 93 per cent of parents surveyed said that they would prefer to have their Alder Hey consultation closer to home, so it’s fantastic that we’re now able to offer this service.
“High volume and low complexity general paediatric appointments are easily delivered in Knowsley’s Primary Care Resource Centres and I hope that more locals with opt to use this service to make the experience more simple and pleasurable for their children.“As part of our future planning for the new hospital at Alder Hey we want to ensure that we have stronger links in the community working with primary care. Alder Hey@ ticks all the boxes”
Alder Hey @ Knowsley is available at Whiston Primary Care Resource Centre, Manor Farm Primary Care Resource Centre, The Halewood Centre and Tower Hill Primary Care Resource Centre.
Jack Jones & Mr Colin Bruce
Comments