Dolphin Ward is a Paediatric Ward for day-case patients. Children are often brought to Dolphin Ward for intravenous medications, dressing changes, and check-ups with the medical team.
Children known to the paediatric team due to an existing medical condition may also have ‘open-access’ so that they can be seen quickly when needed.
You will be given an appointment time to attend Dolphin Ward. Please arrive on time for your appointment.
The nursing staff working on Dolphin Ward aim to complete an initial assessment of your child or young person within 15 minutes of arrival to the unit. However, at times this may not be possible (for example; if a lot of people have arrived in a short space of time).
You will then receive the appropriate treatment i.e; medications, dressing changes or medical review.
If you are worried about your child at any point, let a member of staff know.
We aim for your child to be seen by a member of the medical team within one hour of arrival. There are many members of the medical team who may see you. The paediatric medical team is made up of: Consultants, Junior Doctors (both Senior House Officers and Registrars), Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Medical Students.
If appropriate, further tests or investigations may be arranged. Tthis may include X rays, blood tests or urine samples and any required treatment commenced.
The results of many tests we carry out will be available within a few hours and will help the medical and nursing staff make decisions with you about what care is needed.
While waiting for any test results or investigations, your child or young person will be monitored closely by the medical and nursing teams. This includes regular sets of observations.
If we feel you will not be able to be assessed and treated quickly or the child or young person does not respond to initial treatment then you may need to be admitted to our Paediatric Ward; Sunshine Ward for ongoing care.
Following treatment the medical team may decide they are happy for you to be discharged home.
You may be asked to come back to Dolphin Ward for further treatment; the appointment time will be given to you before discharge. You will also be given appropriate written advice on what your child is being treated for, alongside safety net advice, which outlines when you need to come back to hospital.
You may also be given a copy of your discharge summary, which is a brief summary of your visit, including why you attended, what treatment has been given and any further advice or treatment we would like you to continue at home which is sent to your GP. Sometimes it isn’t possible to leave the department with your discharge summary, in which case it will be posted to you.
If the medical team have decided that your child or young person requires medication, they may give you a prescription. This will need to be taken to Boots Pharmacy within the hospital to be dispensed. Unfortunately, the prescriptions cannot be dispensed from any other pharmacy. Outside of normal working hours, some medications can be dispensed by the nursing team on Dolphin ward. We will let you know where to get your medicine.
The phone number for Dolphin Ward is: 020 8934 2328. Please note, we cannot give advice regarding your child or young person over the phone if they have not been seen by us already. This phone number is for general enquiries only. If you require advice about a health condition, please phone NHS 111.
Due to the ongoing pandemic we have had to put some policies in place to ensure that we keep our patients and staff safe, these include:
Please wash your hands regularly and make use of the hand sanitiser on the walls around the department.
