Paediatric Long Term Ventilation Service

Who is our service for?

The Paediatric LTV Team look after children and young people, aged 0- 18years, who require varying levels of breathing support via a ventilator at home. This includes patients requiring breathing support via a mask (Non-invasive Ventilation or NIV) and those requiring complex ventilatory support via a tracheostomy (a tube inserted into the airway from the front of the neck). Children are referred to us in a variety of circumstances and some will require breathing support for the rest of their lives, and some for shorter periods. This includes children requiring extensive rehabilitation following a prolonged admission to PICU and infants requiring a slow wean of breathing support following a NICU admission at birth.

Who are we?

Our LTV team has many members who you will meet during your LTV journey. We work closely with our colleagues in Paediatric Intensive Care and High Dependency, as well as other medical and surgical specialities in the Children’s Hospital; particularly our Neuromuscular and Metabolic teams.

Medical Team:

• Dr Toni McBride, Lead Paediatric LTV Consultant and Paediatric Respiratory Consultant
• Dr Stuart Wilkinson, Paediatric LTV and Respiratory Consultant
• Dr Mustafa Osman, Paediatric LTV and Respiratory Consultant
• Anna Hughes, Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Paediatric LTV

Nursing Team:

• Lauren Peaple, NIV Specialist Nurse
• Liz Tahsin, LTV Specialist Nurse
• Emma Anderton, Complex Discharge  Co-ordinator
• Sam Collins, LTV Parent Educator
• Tracy Drew, LTV Parent Educator

Allied Health Care Professionals

• Sinead Phillips, Highly Specialised Paediatric OT
• Mimi Richards, Paediatric SLT

We also have access to a large team of paediatric physiotherapists who provide support on the ward.

• Molly Bradley, Youth Worker
• Bryn Morris, Paediatric Physiologist
• Stacey Morris, Senior Medical Secretary for LTV Service

Team contact details:

• LTV Team Email address: ltv.team@mft.nhs.uk
• Lauren Peaple, NIV CNS 07811592235
• Liz Tahsin, LTV CNS 07966675783
• LTV Parent Educators 01617015697
• Emma Anderton, Discharge Coordinator 0161 7015697
• Stacey Morris, LTV Secretary 0161 701 8305

Ward 83 for urgent advice or device replacement, 24 hours a day 0161 7018301 or 01617018309

Where are we?

Our service is based at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Our inpatients are looked after in Ward 83 and Ward 85. Some of our patients will be cared for in the Paediatric Critical Care Department. Outpatient clinics are held on the ground floor of RMCH.

On our ward we have a suite for educating parents which was funded by the WellChild Charity. Here Tracey and Sam will spend time preparing you for discharge home with your child and their ventilator.

Why do I/my child need LTV?

Our lungs are very important, with every breath you take oxygen from the air is taken into the body via the lungs. This oxygen then moves into the blood from the lungs, this oxygen is then pumped around the body for cells to use. Cells produce carbon dioxide as a waste product when they use energy. As oxygen moves into the cell, carbon dioxide moves out. This is then transported back to the lungs and we get rid of it when we breathe out.

For lots of reasons this process in the lungs can go wrong. This means that the body has low oxygen levels and a build up of waste carbon dioxide; when this is left untreated you can become very unwell. We use ventilators to help overcome this problem.

Ventilators

What is a ventilator?

A ventilator is a machine that pushes air into and out of the lungs to support your breathing. This allows you to take a deeper breath in and out and therefore allows more oxygen to move into your body and more carbon dioxide to move out. This can be done by using a mask that covers the nose or mouth, or via a tube inserted directly into the airway via the neck.

In the Paediatric LTV service we use a variety of different ventilators depending on you/your child’s needs. Please find below more information about our different ventilators.

Transition to Adult Services

When you/your young person reaches the age of 16 we will start the process of transition to adult services. All of our patients are transitioned to the North West Ventilation Service at Wythenshawe. We hold regular transition clinics at both RMCH and Wythenshawe: here you will be able to meet the Adult team and get to know each other. Don’t worry all of the familiar faces from RMCH will be there too!

Sleep Study Service

At RMCH we provide a regional service for carrying out sleep studies: these are performed in the inpatient setting and at home. Often we find that children do not sleep well in hospital and therefore studies performed at home in their usual environment can be more reflective of an average night for your child.