Inpatient Services

The Inpatient service sees patients from the time of admission to hospital until discharge home. Children/young persons are usually admitted to Faithfull or Commercial Travellers wards, but may go to any of the hospital wards. The inpatient Brain Injury Team can see patients in any of the wards (sometimes contact can begin in intensive care if the patient is medically stable and able to commence rehabilitation.)

The inpatient team consists of a multi-disciplinary team which includes:

• Rehabilitation Medical Specialists and Registrars
• Clinical Nurse Consultants
• Specialist Nursing Staff
• Occupational Therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Speech Pathologist
• Dietitian
• Child Life Therapist
• Clinical Psychologist
• Clinical Neuropsychologists
• Social Worker
• School Teachers
• Specialist School Counsellor - Brain Injury
• Case Managers

The inpatient team is involved in providing consultation, assessment, treatment, education, support and counselling for children/young persons who have sustained an acquired brain injury within a holistic framework of care.

The inpatient team works closely with families, other medical and surgical teams, nursing staff on the wards and hospital school staff to ensuring an optimal environment in which effective rehabilitation can occur.

The inpatient rehabilitation framework of care includes:

Weekly case conferences

These provide an open forum for team discussion. Each child's/young person's progress is discussed, current needs evaluated, goals set, rehabilitation plans formulated and discharge planned.

Update meetings

These are held on a Monday morning to plan the week. Patient goals are reviewed and new information from the weekend about our patients is shared amongst the team. Times for therapy and assessments are arranged and timetabled to ensure adequate rest and to coordinate care.

Family meetings

These are arranged on a regular basis and provide an opportunity for families to ask questions, voice concerns and be involved in the decision making and ongoing rehabilitation of their child. The hospital embraces the view of "parents as partners" and acknowledges the integral part that parents and other family members play in their child's rehabilitation.

Therapy

Intensive individual therapy sessions are a key component of the child's/young person's inpatient rehabilitation program. Therapy includes physiotherapy, play therapy, occupational therapy and speech pathology. The frequency and intensity of therapy is dependent on the child/young person's recovery and progress. Therapy activities are incorporated into the child's/young person's daily routine wherever possible to maximise effectiveness of intervention.

The Hospital School

The hospital school plays an integral part in a child's rehabilitation. It allows children/young persons to attend a school environment within the hospital that is supportive of their individual and rehabilitation needs. The school is run by teachers experienced in teaching children with special needs, including brain injury. The teachers provide valuable feedback to the rehabilitation team regarding the child's progress. This assists in identifying some of the issues for the child's return to school after discharge.

Lunch Club

This is a weekly session run by the Occupational Therapists and Play Therapist. This session allows children/young persons from the ward to participate in food preparation and cooking within a social, non-clinical environment. This provides an opportunity for the Occupational Therapist to assess skills of daily living and observe how the child/young person interacts with their peers.

The Multisensory Room

This is located on Faithfull Ward and is dedicated to the purposes of relaxation, stimulation and rehabilitation. The room consists of an interactive bubble tube, strands of fibre optics, projector screen, a tactile interactive wall, disco ball and lights, bean bags, and soft, vibrating and sound toys. The therapists use the room to assess children during their rehabilitation for potential functional movements, sight and sound. The room was funded by the Variety Club of Australia and won the Baxter Award for Embracing Innovation in 2000.

"Gate Passes"

"Gate passes" are when patients are allowed to leave the hospital for short periods (starting with day-only, to overnight and then weekend leave). These are an important part of the rehabilitation process. Gate passes are a necessary step in the transition from the acute hospital setting back into a community based setting, whilst still receiving the benefit of intensive rehabilitation that is currently only accessible as an inpatient.

Transition from inpatient to outpatient services

This is an important step in the continuum of care for our clients. Transition includes arranging any follow-up appointments and the coordination of ongoing therapies for the client. See our outpatients page for more information.

Case Management

This may be offered to families who require ongoing intervention and coordination of care to facilitate the transition back to home and school. This may include school and home visits. The inpatient team is also involved in liasing with the Rural Brain Injury Teams who provide ongoing case management for children in the rural setting.