Developing your Paediatric Long Term Ventilation Service Delivery

Sarah currently works as the Clinical service lead within Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare for children’s community nursing services. She has worked both within the acute and community paediatric setting for the past 19 years across London and Surrey. In addition, Sarah has also worked within the charitable sector as an in-house nurse within Shooting Star Hospice. Her team strive to provide an integrated service, whereby they work closely alongside the children’s tertiary centres and specialists to provided care closer to home that meets the families and children’s needs and wishes. Their continuing care provision ensures that the child’s needs are assessed on an individual basis and that the funding and provision for continuing care palliative care is allocated in equitably and swiftly. During Covid 19 her team worked collaboratively across the local authorities and social care sector to ensure that all children with home ventilation were able to safely access school, when this has been a high risk aerosol generating procedure. This led to the publication of Sarah's first journal article in CHEST journal in 2021. 

I am currently a director and trainer for Respirational, providing tracheostomy, invasive ventilation and non-invasive ventilation training in community areas. 

During my time working in special needs schools in London, I realised the availability of tracheostomy training in the community was lacking. Together with My colleague Ranjeeta who had had similar experiences, we were inspired to found Respirational

In addition to this, I work as Lead Paediatric Respiratory Nurse Specialist at Wye Valley trust. I am committed to improving nursing care, and whilst in my role as Paediatric LTV Nurse Specialist at King’s College Hospital, I was actively involved in the Paediatric Pan London Oxygen Group (PPLOG) and Co-Chairing the Paediatric Pan London Long Term Ventilation Group (PPLLTV). Both groups strive to standardise practice and provide guidance for nursing care, additionally acting as a forum for discussion.  

I started my career in acute respiratory at Great Ormond Street Hospital, formerly working clinically, then latterly taking on a role in clinical education. 

My passion for nursing extends beyond my 9-5 job; I have travelled to Ghana with Virtue Foundation, to teach non-invasive ventilation in remote areas, to support acute management where they do not have the facilities to care for intubated ventilated children. I have also volunteered as a nurse for Dreamflight, taking children with medical conditions on a holiday of a lifetime to Orlando Florida. 

I am currently a director and trainer for Respirational, providing tracheostomy, invasive ventilation and non-invasive ventilation training in community areas.  Alongside this I am a Paediatric research nurse currently working with the University of Oxford.  

Having worked in acute respiratory in Great Ormond street hospital for over 10 years, my roles consisted of a senior respiratory nurse, respiratory nurse educator and a respiratory nurse specialist in the private patients and international division. I have expanded my respiratory experience and knowledge through both clinical skills, clinical education and management.  

I was the lead respiratory nurse rolling out tracheostomy and non-invasive training in the international and private patients division when there was a need to upskill our doctors, nursing teams and allied health professional team members as the division had identified the need to expand their services to meet the needs of our patients both within the uk and oversees.  

Whilst working in acute respiratory I worked very closely within the community with children and young people who have complex respiratory needs, these cyp required more specialised care whilst at home, these cares included tracheostomy care, ventilation via a tracheostomy and non-invasive ventilation.  

I was also selected to be apart of a medical team alongside a charity called Caudwell Children. Caudwell children changed the lives of children with life limiting illnesses and their families by taking them to a once in a lifetime trip to Florida. Trips that families couldn’t go on by themselves without a medical team present. We were responsible for maintaining these children and young peoples medical health needs and I was designated lead respiratory nurse during this trip.  

Alongisde this one to one nursing care that I gave, I saw the shortfall and difficulties community nurses, complex care nurses and health care workers face whilst caring for these complex patients. This is what gave me a real insight of what training was needed to ensure these patients are given the best possible care at home and ensure the teams are following clear plans on how to manage their cares if their patients were to clinical deteriorate at home or encounter emergency scenarios, especially during the pandemic.