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Tayside Children's Hospital is a children's hospital which is attached to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland. It is run by NHS Tayside and delivers services to children who live in Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and north east Fife.
It is one of four children's hospitals in Scotland. The hospital combines medical services for children from prenatal to adolescence with research departments specialising in paediatrics and child development.
Specialist services for children are provided for the vast majority of children’s health needs and there are paediatric sub-specialists in Neurology, Gastroenterology, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Allergy, Respiratory Paediatircs, Epilepsy, Dermatology, Clinical Genetics, Surgery and Neurodisability. Some highly specialised areas are supported by visiting clinicians from other children’s hospitals in Scotland, including Metabolic Medicine, Rheumatology, Cardiology and Renal.
In the hospital is a 40-bed children's medical ward which includes a six-bed High Dependency Unit and the Paediatric Assessment Unit. Surgical care is provided in Ward 30 and a dedicated children’s theatre. Ward 40 is the neonatal unit which looks after babies of all gestations that require care. There is also an excellent outdoor play area/garden and a large indoor play centre run by dedicated play staff, which also houses an area that provides entertainment equipment for teenagers. Close to the children’s wards is the Ronald McDonald suite for parents to reside in while their child is in hospital.
There is a separate children's outpatient clinic which has two play areas and a quiet room for parents.
The Clinical Investigation Unit supports day case investigations and is also the key support area for the Clinical Paediatric Research Facility (supported by the Scottish Children’s Research Network) into conditions such as cystic fibrosis, asthma, diabetes, dermatology and ADHD. The research is supported by clinical nurse specialists and aimed at developing further treatments and enabling medication trials that would normally only be offered to adults.
Integrated into the Children’s Hospital is Child Health which is repsonisble for the delivery of academic Child Health Research and teaching for the School of Medicine, University of Dundee. Tayside Children’s Hospital also extends beyond the Ninewells site with the Children’s Ambulatory Care Unit at Perth Royal Infirmary and community child health services.
Approval for this facility to be built was given in 1999, and the development was to proceed in 2 stages. It was formally opened on 7 June 2006 by television celebrity Fred MacAulay.
NHS Tayside has recently signed an agreement with the ARCHIE Foundation, a North of Scotland children’s health charity and together, the organisations aim to improve and enhance the services currently provided to the children of Tayside.