“The worst journey of our lives”: parents’ experiences of a specialised paediatric retrieval service

Should parents accompany critically ill children during inter-hospital transport?

“…14 A recent postal survey of 233 parents revealed a high degree of satisfaction with the service; however, a recurrent theme that emerged was the level of parental distress as a consequence of separation from their child during the transfer period. 15 In response, a three month pilot was undertaken in October 2002, whereby a parent or carer was offered the opportunity to travel in the ambulance with their child. Staff and parent experiences were audited over this period, and on the basis of positive findings from the audit, parental accompaniment was adopted as standard practice.…”

The state of paediatric intensive care retrieval in Britain

“…Waiting for the retrieval team to arrive can often be a terrifying experience, and the acute change in their child's physical appearance and condition can be traumatic. In this context, there is evidence that most parents desperately want to accompany their sick child during interhospital transport, and the separation anxiety induced at such a critical time is a major stress factor following admission to PICU 28. Practice within Britain is varied with regard to parental presence during PIC retrieval, mainly related to the ad hoc use of local ambulance vehicles in many retrieval services, which can only accommodate two members of the clinical team 29.…”

‘Don't put the parent out’: parents' perspectives of being present during an inter‐hospital transfer

“…Early research in this area focused on the medical outcome of children who were transferred for specialist care (Colville et al . ) with limited knowledge of the experiences of service users, the child and their family.…”

“…This is a stressful time for the child and family particularly as they are often separated during the transfer. Early research in this area focused on the medical outcome of children who were transferred for specialist care (Colville et al 2003) with limited knowledge of the experiences of service users, the child and their family.…”