Children's burns service
We have specialist pathway for children up to the age of 18. The information below only applies to children.
Children’s burn pathway (for under 16 years)
When children like you come to the hospital with a burn, our special burn doctors or senior nurses will decide the best place for you to stay, depending on what care you need.
If your burn needs extra special care, like close monitoring and advanced skin treatments, you might first go to our Intensive Care Unit.
This is a room with special equipment to keep track of your heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. There are also machines that help give you medicine. You’ll have your own nurse who will stay with you the whole time and a friendly Play Specialist to make sure you’re comfortable and have things to do.
After assessment or intensive care
If you’re feeling a bit better or your burn doesn’t need as much care, you’ll move to our children’s burns ward. This ward has lots of cool things to make you feel at home! We have:
- Four individual bedrooms for kids who need their own space.
- A special four-bed room where kids can stay together.
- Two treatment rooms where we help you heal.
- Our fun Jungle room and Bubble room, which are colourful and bright to help you feel better!
We even have a place for your parents! One parent can stay with you in your room, and there’s a kitchen and shower room just for them to use.
Recovery
When your burn gets smaller and you’re feeling much better or if you don’t need to stay, you’ll come back to the hospital as an outpatient, which means you don’t need to stay overnight.
You’ll visit us in our Bubble room (images top right) or Jungle room (images bottom right) until your burn is fully healed.
Discharge and after care
Once your burn is all healed, our burns therapists will help if you need anything to make sure your skin stays healthy.
They’ll support you with any care you need for your scar.
Burns outpatients
The burns outpatients department is part of the St Andrew’s Burns Centre at Broomfield Hospital.
It provides a dressing and after care clinic for adult patients with a burn injury.
You may be referred by your GP or local hospital A&E if you have a new burns injury after being discharged from the burns wards.
When you come to burns outpatients for dressings you will always see an experienced burns nurse. you may also see a doctor, advanced practitioner, occupational therapist, psychotherapist or scar therapist if needed.
Working with other Trusts
Our burns unit is part of the London and southeast Burns Network (LSEBN) and covers a large part of the east of England including London, north of the river Thames. This means that you may need to travel a long way for your burn care. A clinic is held once a week at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely to help reduce travelling distances for some patients.
If you are finding it difficult to get to your appointments due to finance or reduced mobility after your injuries, please discuss this with the nurses in clinic or call the us. You may be eligible for transport or help with some of your travel costs.
Our burns outreach team
If you are not clinically well enough to travel to the outpatients department, our burns outreach team can come and visit you at home.
They also support other hospitals, care settings and district/community nurses to make sure that all patients get the best possible burn care.
If you feel you are not well enough to travel, please contact us using the details below and let us know.
Contact us
You can contact us on 0300 443 0233.
Burns outpatients — View accessibility information about this area on the AccessAble website at https://www.accessable.co.uk/mid-and-south-essex-nhs-foundation-trust/broomfield-hospital/access-guides/e224-burns-outpatients.
St Andrew's outpatients and therapies —View accessibility information about this area on the AccessAble website at https://www.accessable.co.uk/mid-and-south-essex-nhs-foundation-trust/broomfield-hospital/access-guides/e121-st-andrew-s-outpatients-therapies.
Peer support for survivors
For children and young people (up to 18 years old), our Children’s Burns Club (CBC) offers a supportive community to help young burn survivors and their families cope with the trauma, body image concerns, and confidence issues that can arise after a burn injury.
CBC provides a variety of fun activities such as daytrips, camps, workshops, and parties. These events offer not only peer support but also opportunities for skill-building and lots of fun!
This peer support is invaluable in boosting self-esteem, building confidence, and setting positive expectations for life after a burn. It’s also a great way for children and their families to form lifelong friendships with others who have had similar experiences.
CBC is a registered charity under the umbrella of the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, and is open to any child or young person. Young adults aged 18 to 24 can also join the Young Adult Group, offering tailored support for this age range.
For adults, we have connections to the London and South East Support Group based at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, as well as links with external charities that can provide additional assistance.
Support for Families
Getting help from people who understand what you may have experiences can make everyone in the family feel stronger and more confident.
There is more information available through:
- Supporting Children With Burns - https://supportingchildrenwithburns.co.uk
- Children's Burns Trust - https://cbtrust.org.uk
- Children Burns Club.
If you're interested in these or other resources, please speak to your clinical team, who can guide you in accessing the right support.
Patient information
Burns and scalds - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/burns-and-scalds
British Burn Association - https://www.britishburnassociation.org/patient-advice
Transitioning from children to adult services
Transitioning from children's services to adult services will take place during the ages of 16 to 18 depending on the service needed.
To find out more about the move between services, visit the Transitioning from children to adult burns services page.