“There’s a widespread perception that the Portland only delivers maternity and neo-natal care,” says Emma Bhuva, a modern matron at the hospital. “But in truth that’s only part of the picture. We’re also the largest private children’s hospital in the country. We have five floors here dedicated exclusively to children’s care, including 60 paediatric beds in our inpatient unit, and a 10-bed paediatric intensive care unit (PICU).”
“It means we do a lot of complex procedures,” she explains. “I work in the inpatient unit. We have dedicated wards here for day case surgery, neurology rehabilitation and general paediatrics. If you come here, you’ll find us caring for children across the whole spectrum of needs. We handle everything from circumcisions and ear, nose and throat operations to multi-specialist craniofacial and neurosurgery.
“Craniofacial surgery, for example, involves the treatment of skull and facial deformities arising from birth defects, traumas and other acquired conditions. The Portland is able to treat these patients because we have three state-of-the-art theatres and equipment like the 128-slice CT scanner, which offers unprecedented image quality.”
“As a nurse, it’s a rewarding environment because you get to experience so much. You also get to work with state-of-the-art equipment; the kind of equipment that many hospitals can only wish for. The Portland is always investing in the latest technologies and techniques. If a patient ever needs something, we always get it.”
PICU acting matron Lisa Brown agrees: “Here in critical care, we’ve just launched a paediatric dialysis unit. It’s the first standalone unit of its kind outside Great Ormond Street. Delivering dialysis to children is not easy or straightforward; it’s a complex procedure that requires a lot of specialist skills. It says a lot that we’re the first private hospital in the UK to deliver this treatment.”
“It simply wouldn’t have been possible without our consultants,” says Brown. “I think it’s fair to say we have the top consultants working here. Most of our paediatric specialists hold senior clinical and research posts in many of the top NHS hospitals.”
“Having consultants of that calibre around isn’t just reassuring for patients. It’s reassuring for nurses too. It means we have a wealth of experience and expertise at our disposal.”
She adds: “The consultants come in every day for both morning and evening ward rounds. They’re always on call and never more than 10 minutes away from the hospital. They’re also more hands on than in NHS environments; the care we deliver here is more consultant-led.”
That’s not the only difference between the Portland and the NHS. “Our admissions are elective,” says Bhuva. “That means we don’t deal with emergencies. Instead we deal with patients who are expecting to come here. Often we’ve planned for the patient well in advance of their arrival.
“Having worked in A&E for eight years before the Portland, I have to say it makes a huge difference. The pace of life is a lot less frenetic here. You approach care in a calmer, more structured way.”
Brown also points to the environment as something that sets The Portland apart. “Our patients are able to recuperate in rooms, which are light, airy and spacious. We also have isolation cubicles for those patients with infections. I think these factors make a real difference to their wellbeing and recovery.”
“Crucially, we’re also able to deliver more one-on-one care,” she says. “Our staff to patient ratio is very low here; one nurse to four patients is the maximum allowed. As a nurse, that’s a dream come true in many ways. It means you’re able to deliver the standard of care you’ve always wanted to give.”
But while there are clear differences between the Portland and the NHS, the relationship between the two institutions remains strong. “You’ve got to remember most of our consultants come from many top NHS hospitals throughout London, so there’s a deep relationship there,” says Bhuva. “In fact, we’ve even lent support to NHS hospitals, by taking on some of their post-operation patients.
“What’s more, we’re now taking on placements students from UCLH and King’s College. These kinds of relationships – with Great Ormond Street and the London teaching hospitals - are set to get stronger all the time.”
“We also hold open days for nurses. If you’re in interested about finding out more about the Portland hospital and our work, I recommend you come along. You’ll see firsthand what the Portland is really like and how we are. We also offer on-the-floor training to our nurses and are currently recruiting for a PICU-specific educator to grow this even further.”
To find out more about nursing vacancies in the paediatric intensive care unit at the Portland, click here.
To find out more about the paediatric intensive care nurse educator vacancy at the Portland, click here.
To find out more about the hospital’s open days, contact alex.wilkinson@hcahealthcare.co.uk
Content on this page is produced and paid for by the Portland hospital
