Flamingo Ward

Flamingo Ward is home to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) and provides care for children under the age of 16 who need intensive care for conditions involving the heart, lungs or airways.

It is where children are nursed before and after heart surgery, including heart/lung transplants, and the unit houses the ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) programme for children with serious heart and lung damage. Newborn babies with suspected heart disease or defects also stay on Flamingo Ward.

Flamingo Ward is located in the Morgan Stanley Building.

Flamingo Ward is staffed 24 hours a day by a multidisciplinary team including intensive care doctors and nurses, family liaison nurses, cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, ventilator technicians, physiotherapists, dieticians, pharmacists, chaplains, volunteers and housekeepers.

The person who co-ordinates your child’s care while on Flamingo Ward is the intensive care consultant on duty that day.

The following members of staff will be available to help you during your stay on the ward:

• Matron: Bridget Leavey
• Family Liaison Sisters: Kelly Hunt
• Play workers: Roxanne Iyacootee, Gemma Skye and Kelly-McCarthy

The special areas of expertise include:

intensive care pre and post heart surgery

• heart transplant
• lung transplant
• ECMO
• diagnosis and treatment for newborns with suspected heart problems
• Berlin Heart – bridge to transplant
• tracheal surgery
• pulmonary hypertension

You are a valued member of your child‘s healthcare team and we encourage you to take part in his or her care as much as possible while in hospital. The Family Liaison nurses will meet and orientate all families of children admitted to CICU and provide comprehensive advice and support. We work closely with the psychosocial team of psychologist, social workers, chaplains, play specialist, community midwives and any others involved with children and families. We provide a point of contact for families either before a planned admission or during an inpatient stay.

The ward has a parents' sitting room and facilities to make drinks and snacks.

For mothers who wish to breastfeed, we provide a dedicated room. We also provide the equipment to 'express' breast milk so your child can be fed through a nasogastric tube, if necessary.

You can use your mobile phone inside the hospital but only within designated ‘mobile friendly zones’. Using your mobile elsewhere could cause interference with our medical equipment.

More information

Find out more information about facilities available for parents, family members, visitors and patients in the hospital, including the Chapel and multi-faith room, hospital school, activity centre and information on where you can eat or find facilities such as launderettes.