Baby turned away from new hospital

Amanda Crook

July 10, 2009

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Lyndon Brighouse

A BABY who needs an emergency operation has been turned away from Manchester's new children's hospital because of a beds shortage.

Nine-week-old Lyndon Brighouse has suffered fits and is unable to keep food down.

He was taken to North Manchester General hospital on Sunday night where doctors decided he needed an operation as quickly as possible to remove a tumour above his stomach.

On Monday staff tried to transfer him to the newly-opened Royal Manchester Children's Hospital but later that afternoon his parents say they were told it was not possible.

Bosses at the new hospital say they have had an unusually high number of children referred to them for surgery since it opened a month ago. Staff at North Manchester stabilised Lyndon's condition and he was rushed by ambulance to Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool on Wednesday. He was expected to undergo surgery today.

His parents John Malone and Claire Brighouse say they are disappointed he was not able to be cared for at the new children's hospital - the largest in the country - close to their home in Harpurhey.

John, 30, an HGV driver, said: "He has been really sick, we were told on Monday he was going to be transferred to the children's hospital and then they came back to us and said there were no beds.

"He is a lot better now but he was still very sick to be transported to Liverpool.

"It is not right that Manchester children cannot be treated in the city's new hospital."

Claire, 21, a nursery nurse, said: "The most important thing is that Lyndon gets the care he needs but we don't understand why he can't come to the new children's hospital."

A spokeswoman for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital said: "Since we opened, we have taken an unusually high number of surgical referrals from surrounding hospitals."

There are 77 surgery beds at the new hospital which can be used for emergency care - the same number as at the old children's hospitals - Booth Hall and Pendlebury - combined.

The new hospital also has an extra 46 beds for planned surgery which would not have been suitable for Lyndon because he was an emergency case.

Surgeons at Alder Hey were expecting Lyndon's operation to take less than half an hour.

A spokesman for Pennine Acute hospitals trust which runs North Manchester General said: "All children who are admitted are appropriately assessed and stabilised, where necessary referral to specialised centres are made for surgery or other treatment."

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Tezza, Tyldesley (10/07/2009 at 11:04)

Unfortunately if there are no available beds then he must go to the nearest hospital and I am sure that Alder Hey can do just as good a job as Manchester.

I hope that he gets better soon.

local_lass, Burnage (10/07/2009 at 11:14)

"unusually high number of surgical referrals from surrounding hospitals"
That's hardly surprising given all the hype and publicity is it?
Hopefully it will all settle down and the new hospital will be able to cope.
We should be grateful we have both Manchester and Alder Hey close by.

power to the people uk (10/07/2009 at 12:49)

no local dentist,no playing fields hardly,no local hospital for the kids in an emergency,kids getting shot dead and killed at a rate we have never known and social services getting it wrong time after time is this great britain,if it wasnt for these senseless wars maybe the kids would have a better country to live in.

Ace , manchester (10/07/2009 at 13:09)

We in britain find it eaasy to turn our own away from from hospitals and yet we turn very few immigrants away?Sorry but i find it difficult to see these people struggle while we find money to help others .charity begins at home .."where we have paid"

chriso, manchester (10/07/2009 at 13:24)

Well i am very sorry to hear this news,if course its sad that no beds are available,they will find an alternative for this little child for sure.
The new hospital has had a flux of seriously sick children admitted and have filled all the beds, it just goes to show how many children who are in need of the hospitals help, they doing a great job and the children are in the best care, they just can't fit everyone in at once.
where ever this little child is treated i am sure it will be with the very best of care.
Best wishes

Off the fence (10/07/2009 at 13:59)

Another poor attempt to stir up an emotional reaction against any public body by the MEN. One only needs to scroll through the court listings to see the amount of true evil that would fill any newspaper, but instead the MEN chooses to focus on bunch of Dr's and nurses trying to doing their best. This article doesn't tell me the child didn't receive the care he needs, where is scandal? Maybe they should have immediately built an extension or put in bunk beds. I'm sure the parents are going through hell right now and the MEN are just exploiting their emotion for profit, get a life.

Mike, Manchester (10/07/2009 at 14:02)

"We in britain find it eaasy to turn our own away from from hospitals and yet we turn very few immigrants away" - Ace

And you know this how??

More claptrap from you-know-who!

Tezza, Tyldesley (10/07/2009 at 14:24)

"We in britain find it eaasy to turn our own away from from hospitals and yet we turn very few immigrants away" - Ace

Goodness me Ace you really dragged your feet getting the Immigrants into this story, I mean it was 1:09pm before you managed

Marquis de Sade et la petit monge tout (10/07/2009 at 15:27)

I get turned away from The Living Room because I'm never on 'The List". This kid should have just been on their 'list'.

Andanotherthing, Mcr (10/07/2009 at 15:52)

I don't see a problem here, the little guy is going to be getting all the care he needs. Be grateful for that.

Bigmouth strikes again, Manchester (10/07/2009 at 16:28)

The next time you try and get 6 into a taxi, and you get told no. The next time the bus flys past and doesn't stop because it's full, are you going to do a story on it? This story gives a negative image that the hospital and the people who work there aren't doing a good job. Everything has a limit, when that limit is reached, you can do no more. This baby got the care it needed at another hospital.
There is no story here and it feels like you are trying to stir something up.

frazzo (10/07/2009 at 16:45)

shame on the MEN for this. We have a new, state of the art facility, the largest in the country, and this is how the editorial spins it. Did the child receive poor care at Alder Hey? I very much doubt it. The story is clearly aimed at playing into the hands of idiots like Ace. Very regretful.

Bramhall Family, Bramhall (10/07/2009 at 18:59)

There certainly is a story here. Our daughter was classed as an emergency case and was due a major operation at the new hospital on Monday. Today we receive a call saying that another emergency has taken our place. Thats fine in principle, but its not as though were on the list later this coming week - we are now back in the system and have no idea of when our emergency operation will take place. This means that less urgent operations will take place before ours, where is the sense in that? This is not a dig at the hospital or the surgeons and nurses who care for the children but a serious complaint about the management of this hospital. We hear parents complain to each other all the time, but they are fearful of complaining in case they dont receive the care because a few managers noses maybe put out of joint. The bad NHS processes will never change unless people complain.

Jo14, Somewhere on planet Earth (10/07/2009 at 21:39)

So, the beds were full? This would've happened if there had still been 2 hospitals surely?

I'm sure they didn't leave the parents behind in Manchester and that they're able to stay with baby in Liverpool as easily - although, obvioulsly not as conveniently - as in Manchester.

Stop trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

petan, openshaw (11/07/2009 at 08:56)

if they had kept all the other hospitals open this would not have happened We need more hospitals for the huge increase in the population not just for children

Andanotherthing, Mcr (11/07/2009 at 17:13)

There certainly is a story here. Our daughter was classed as an emergency case and was due a major operation at the new hospital on Monday. Today we receive a call saying that another emergency has taken our place. That's fine in principle, but its not as though were on the list later this coming week - we are now back in the system and have no idea of when our emergency operation will take place. This means that less urgent operations will take place before ours, where is the sense in that? This is not a dig at the hospital or the surgeons and nurses who care for the children but a serious complaint about the management of this hospital. We hear parents complain to each other all the time, but they are fearful of complaining in case they dont receive the care because a few managers noses maybe put out of joint. The bad NHS processes will never change unless people complain.
Bramhall Family, Bramhall

Grow up...Emergency surgery is just that vital at that moment. Doctors surgeons nurses need to clarify their language to you the distressed parent. Vital can just mean needs to be done sooner rather than.

Some times we all fail, we are fallible.

castleton resident, castleton (11/07/2009 at 23:31)

at 30 wk pregnant i was admitted to rochdale infirmary in early stages of labour because they had a bed for me but no neonatal for the baby i was transferred to salford 2 wk later i gave birth to a very tiny boy weighing 1 pound 8 ounces it's not the hospitals fault or the nurses if there are no beds they send you to the nearest hospital. on day nine my son was transfered to bury as soon as a bed/insubator became available through out all care was very professional and what was right for my child.the nurses work really hard and i'm for one who is really gratefull that they saved my sons life even if i'd had to go to london i'd still be greatfull because without their help and dedication my son would not be here today THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HELPED BRING MY SON INTO THIS WORLD AND SAVE HIS LIFE.

john davis, Salford (12/07/2009 at 09:48)

the hospital is basically too small not enough beds, you will hear this more and more, I have been told by a nurse that works there, that another 25 beds are needed otherwise every single day very poorly kids will have to be turned away. Isn't it a pity the billions and billions of pounds being wasted in Iraq and Aghanistan on the so called war on terror couldn't be rechanelled into the NHS in the UK , and the fight against homelessness and the crumbling roads, etc etc etc, the UK have access to huge sums of money but they choose to waste it on silly projects.

Maybe It's Me, Any Town (12/07/2009 at 10:54)

Emergency....! get it done then don't wait.

lyndon ashton (12/07/2009 at 13:14)

I feel sorry for the Baby and the parents, and also for the hospital staff which i am sure wouldn't of wanted to turn a poorly baby away. In one of the worlds richest coutries, it seems even a 3rd world country would have made room to accomodate.

lyndon ashton (12/07/2009 at 13:19)

I think even a 3rd world hospital would have made room to accomadate. Well done Mr.Brown.

I hope he gets better.

local_lass, Burnage (13/07/2009 at 10:05)

"if they had kept all the other hospitals open this would not have happened We need more hospitals for the huge increase in the population not just for children" the story states that there are the same number of beds as previously so this is not a factor.

In a 3rd world country they would have made room would they? in a country where parents walk for days carrying their children to a volunteer run hospital for emergency care they may well have made room - but at what expense.

Had there been no beds at another hospital either then I'm sure in a real emergency staff would have found another way, but there was the option to send the child to an excellent hospital just 45 minutes away. The protocol is clearly right in this case.

No one likes to see planned surgey taking place while emergency surgey is delayed but it does not follow that planned surgey is not as important. Planned surgey used to be delayed frequently and the newpapers were full of stories about waiting lists. I'm not here to defend targets but ultimately the management have to find the way to deleiver the best possible care to the most people, not just to emergency paediatric cases.

Princess_Pam, Crumpsall (13/07/2009 at 11:28)

A few years ago, when I was vice-chair of my local PCT PPI Forum, we had a guest from the Childrens Trust. I asked a question about will there be a reduction in beds and was told that there would be and that is what they want. Now we see what happens.

And yet, before New Labour came to power, Middleton Labour Party had an emergency resolution passed at Labour Conference to keep Booth Hall open. And overwhelming majority voted for this and it was well over the two thirds majority needed to make it party policy. It wasn't supported by everybody, one T Blair was against it and now members aren't allowed to make party policy because one of the first things Tony Blair did when coming to power was to scrap democracy and have policy imposed.

Jean Ashworth (13/07/2009 at 12:01)

This is just the start of things to come ,all of our Children's wards are full now how are they going to cope in winter? wasn't the purpose of building this "super" new children's hospital to treat all of our little ones in?
It is discraceful that this little baby had to travel 35miles away plus the added stress on his mummy & daddy hope he makes a full recovery.

LeeC22, Manchester, UK (14/07/2009 at 00:06)

"wasn't the purpose of building this "super" new children's hospital to treat all of our little ones in?"

Ah yes, they planned on having 2 million beds to accomodate all the children in Manchester and the surrounding areas.

A finite sized building, with a finite number of rooms, can fit in a finite number of beds and subsequently, treat a finite number of children. How hard is that to understand? What do you suggest, have all the sick children lined up in prams down corridors or something?

Maybe they should be looking at why the other hospitals are so intent on referring patients, instead of dealing with them themself.

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