UPDATE: This project was completed in 2007.
The new Children’s Assessment and Treatment service at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral opened in 2006, and can treat upwards of 16,000 children each year, acting both as an Accident and Emergency Unit, referral centre and a GP drop-in centre. The unit is exclusively for children, and eliminates the need for children to be sharing a waiting area with adults, which at busy times can be intimidating and dangerous.
The Unit is designed around a large central waiting area for parents and children, and provides a fun, stimulating environment with a child-friendly theme. There are already plans in place to provide toys and activities for younger children. Staff are conscious that the new facility does not cater for older children, and so have designated a waiting room specifically for older patients, as well as for older siblings attending with young children.