A new, specialised room to protect immunocompromised patients from infection was on show when NSW Premier Chris Minns, Deputy Premier Prue Car, Health Minister Ryan Park and Member for Parramatta Donna Davis toured the prototype rooms at The Children's Hospital at Westmead (CHW).
Positive Pressure Ventilation Anterooms (PPVAs) will be featured across intensive care and oncology settings at the Paediatric Services Building (PSB) at CHW and the Sydney Children's Hospital Stage 1 and Minderoo Children's Comprehensive Cancer Centre (SCH1/MCCCC) at Randwick, with construction of the buildings set to be completed in 2025.
Premier Chris Minns said the introduction of the technology is a first for both the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN) and paediatric healthcare in the state.
For kids who are immunosuppressed, being able to reduce the risk of getting a virus or a cold is so important during what is usually intense treatment, and that’s why we want to ensure our hospitals have the ability to protect sick kids and their families as much as possible,” said Mr Minns.
The anterooms contain a higher-pressure system than the outside environment, removing and filtering particles and preventing airflow back into the isolation room.
Associate Professor Adam Nelson, Director of Transplant and Cellular Therapy at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick (SCH), said the rooms are a significant example of the vast technological improvements in store for the new hospital buildings.
It allows us to protect our most vulnerable patients, who are already at high risk due to their treatment, from life-threatening infections, and ensure they receive world-class care in new facilities,” said Associate Professor Adam Nelson.
The rooms are among multiple clinical areas that have been modelled across both Westmead and Randwick, allowing staff to try and test the new spaces and technology set to be rolled out in the new hospital buildings.
At Westmead, prototypes include Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit spaces, standard and long-stay single inpatient unit rooms, a staff touch down area, and a scrub bay. The Randwick prototypes include models of the Emergency Department acute bed space, Children's Intensive Care Unit bed space, standard medication room and overnight bedroom.
SCHN Chief Executive Cathryn Cox, PSM said the rooms allow feedback that will improve patient care in future hospital buildings.
We want to ensure the new hospitals enable staff to provide world-class care to every patient that comes through the doors while offering families a place of comfort and respite," said SCHN Chief Executive Cathryn Cox, PSM.
"Prototype rooms allow staff to test and adapt the layout and design of vital spaces before they are built, allowing simulation and training in the new and improved working environments."
Health Infrastructure has delivered the prototype rooms on behalf of SCHN in collaboration with delivery partners Roberts Co, John Holland Group, Billard Leece Partnership, and PwC.
Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation (SCHF) is also among the valued project partners that the Network will collaborate with to bring the redevelopment projects to life as SCHF works towards its generous commitment to raise $75 million for the project.