Paediatric Adolescent Unit

An updated revision of HPU 540 Paediatric / Adolescent Unit (Revision 7.0, October 2023) has been uploaded.  The revised version has been informed by an extensive consultation process with clinical, operational and technical experts and consumer representatives.

Key changes to the document include:

• Acknowledgement that Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine is a growing medical specialty focusing on the health and care of young people aged 10 to 24 years.
• Updates to information relating to models of care, noting the continued growth in short stay models of care.
• Acknowledgment that education within paediatric / adolescent units is increasingly being delivered virtually, with a trend to connect patients with their own schools.
• Updates to Information Communications Technology (ICT) considerations to promote the planning of IT networks that support gaming and streaming services and the patient’s own devices for educational or entertainment purposes.
• Increased focus on addressing the biopsychosocial needs of children in hospital through provision of environments which normalise their stay and provide a sense of emotional safety and comfort.
• Emphasis on the important role of arts integration. Art and play can be a key part of communicating to a young person that they have arrived at a child-safe, adolescent friendly and culturally safe environment.
• Inclusion of detailed design information relating to paediatric procedure rooms that are used for procedures away from the patient bedside to ensure that the bedroom continues to be perceived as a safe space.
• Updates to relevant policies, standards, and other key reference documents.
• Revised Schedule of Accommodation (SOA) scenarios to refer to indicative unit capacities that reflect common unit sizes.
• Adjustments to the SOA including an increased proportion of single bedrooms (noting that this is indicative and will depend on the anticipated patient cohort and local jurisdictional policies) and updates to the recommended spatial allocation for the family lounge, play room, milk preparation and storage, and other support areas in line with contemporary practice and benchmarking to recently delivered facilities.