To not understand what the "paedatric medicine unit" is?

[Mixedupmind]

After an a&e visit we have blood tests booked for next week and have today recieved a letter from the above unit for an appt mid June
Can anyone explain what these units are for?
It seems a long time to wait for the blood results as I thought they would be back a few days after taking them and not sure why the results won't just go back to my GP,
Thanks

I am guessing it's a specialist unit dealing with paediatric medicine

you could always ring and ask

Hospital care is (largely) divided into two major groups:

Surgical care - as it suggests, any condition that can be dealt with by a surgical procedure, even if the first avenue to try is medicines.

Medical care - any thing that is dealt with by non-surgical means including medications.

Paediatric Medicine Unit is just a name given to the area of the hospital that sees children who need hospital follow up/care but don't require the input of a surgeon.

The blood results may be back a few days after the sample is taken, although some tests can take a lot longer (for example, some genetic tests take upwards of 40 days to process), but the test results need to be interpreted in the light of whatever symptoms took you to A&E with your child.

Your appointment in June will presumably either be a review with discharge to the care of your GP, or a review with a plan of action.

Ours is attached to the children's wards and deals with routine outpatient appointments .

I would guess it's the unit where the paediatricians work (specialists in paediatric medicine) as opposed to say the paediatric surgery unit.

If they have booked a follow up appointment it sounds as if they think your child needs to see a paediatrician, not simply ring up and find out the blood results. If the results are normal s/he may need further tests depending on what the problem was and if they aren't normal then the paediatrician will need to organize treatment.

Thanks
It's regarding a lump on the head that hasn't gone down after a bump a few weeks back
He had seen a doctor who wasn't worried but I then noticed some indents near his craniomoty site ( he had surgery as a baby, is now 3 1/2 ) and panicked so went to a&e as so doctors available at the surgery

Go along with it but make a list of the questions you have been asking here and make sure you leave the June appt with answers, or a way to get the answers.

Until they have the results and you see the person who is making the decisions at the moment you are going to have to sort of wait and see. You will probably only get noncommittal answers or be pushed from pillar to post at the moment. Try to remain calm and make sure you go to the appt fully armed.

Good luckxx

Thankyou
If you have seen my other posts you can see I'm just very confused by it all, people disagreeing about what to do next has really unnerved me
One doctor wanting bloods another not, another wanting an MRI, another not wanting any kind of referal to neurosurgeons it's all been a horrible headache :(

I have read your other posts and i t is very odd, I can see why you would utterly unnerved by it all.

That's why I would add that maybe you star a journal. Write down all that has happened, all of your questions about the discrepancies that have happened, add each thing as it occurs to you and document each conversation you have with a medical professional and the questions it raised for you.

Take it to every appt and ask the person you are seeing who you need to talk to to get a proper explanation and resolution.

Good luck.

Why the hell are they making you wait that long??? The NHS is screwed.

mixedup we spoke on another one of your threads but I really think you need to seek some support for your anxiety. You have at least 10 threads surrounding this same topic and in the nicest possible way, we can't give you what you are looking for.

Be kind to yourself and maybe talk it through with someone who knows you well.

Thankyou for the replies
I know nobody here can give me what I'm looking for, I just wondered if people with more medical knowledge might know the procedure better than me.
The thing that's really taken its toll on me is that they all seem to think different things, some thinking it's nothing and that's the end of it and others doing blood tests and referrals to neurosurgeons
Feels all very up in the air and that's what's making me panic more I suppose
Thanks for the support though :)

I sounds like you are having a really hard time. Could you pay for a second opinion? Hope it's all ok, pop back and let us know.

Yes id be happy to pay for a second opinion, would this be with a doctor rather than a paeditrician?
Ive never needed to pay for anything medical and wouldn't have the first clue how to go about it

A paediatrician is a doctor who specialises in children. You can contact your local private hospital and ask how much it would cost.

I'm honestly not sure it's worth getting a second opinion, until you have a first opinion, IYSWIM.

I would wait till all the current test results are in, and if you're still not happy, then ask for a second opinion (I think you're entitled to this within the NHS?).

Best wishes.

I just wish I knew what blood results could indicate with a bump on the head??
Im no doctor but struggling to find any sort of link.
The doctor did mention possibly an abdo scan however said she was probably thinking too far outside the box whatever that means.
Wish all the doctors agreed in the next step as I doubt I'd be as worried then, just pleased they were helping.

Paediatrician are doctors, they are doctors who specialize in children.

As jeee says, there is no point getting a second opinion until you have had a first opinion which will be from the paediatrician.

Can you try really really hard to set it to one side until the appointment? It sounds like you have developed significant health anxiety about your little one, understandably given what you've been through. The problem with this is that docotrs will do more tests to make doubly sure so to alleviate your anxiety. And then one test leads to another and instead of helping to reassure, they increase the anxiety as may another test is required and another, and then you see a different doctor and they say something different to the first... Does any of that sound familiar to you?

Kundry
You've hit the nail on the head
I've got a referral to neurology from my gp so apparently that will be within 6 weeks
I certainly will try to put it to one side as we have a holiday next week and although I had hoped my appt with the blood results would be back before I guess theyre busy people and it's better than just sending them to my gp of they're clear with no explanation / next plan

My daughter has a chronic medical condition and we sometimes have to visit the paediatric medical unit with her (I am also a healthcare professional though I do not work with kids).it is exactly as lougle says. In the one that we visit a junior paediatric registrar takes bloods for children up to the age of 12 after which they visit the phlebotomy(blood taking) clinic for adults. This paediatric registrar does not work for the neurologist my daughter sees . As well as taking bloods the registrar admits children for day investigations such as scans under sedation etc and if necessary attends these scans / medical procedure with child. This doctor generally will not review your child's medical condition but will just take blood and will advise you to wait to see the specialist. Try not to be upset by this (I know too well that it is hard to do when your child is unwell) but understand that they do not have the skills or knowledge to review your child. If your child is otherwise we'll try to stay positive. Good luck.

Thankyou for the reply
This clinic I am going to Is a few weeks after the blood tests so it isn't to take them, more for the results apparently
The paed we saw in a&e actually called me earlier as my doctor had referred me to the wrong unit as she's seen the referal and also to let me know the date I have for June is wrong as she isn't in that day so will probably be the week or 2 after ( which is annoying as even longer to wait for the bloods ) and they will ring me with the date