Children's Hospital at Westmead (CHW) has opened a new building featuring an integrated perioperative suite designed to enhance surgical care for children and their families.
The new integrated perioperative suite at Children's Hospital at Westmead is designed to enhance surgical care for children and their families.
Key Enhancements
Consolidated Services
All main surgical services are now located closer within or linked to the new perioperative suite. This reduces patient travel time between hospital spaces, minimizing time away from vital safety equipment during anesthesia.
Digital Theatres
New theatres are fully digital, allowing all image and sound-producing equipment (e.g., laparoscopes, microscopes, in-light cameras, room cameras, anesthetic/neuro monitors) to transmit to multiple screens, providing improved visibility for surgical teams.
Cardiac Catheter Laboratory Integration
A new Cardiac Catheter Laboratory (Cath Lab) is situated within the new theatre complex, facilitating closer collaboration between teams during complex 'hybrid' procedures.
Minimally Invasive Procedures
The Cath Lab includes new interventional radiology (IR) machines with advanced image-guided systems. This technology supports less invasive procedures, often allowing children to return home the same or next day without needing ICU care or extensive surgical wound recovery.
Expanded Anaesthetic and Recovery Areas
These areas aim to streamline workflow and improve the patient experience. Calming wall envirographics, featuring local animals, are incorporated to help reduce patient anxiety and stress.
Increased Capacity
The integrated perioperative suite spans an entire floor of the new 14-storey hospital building. The expansion nearly doubles the hospital's surgical capacity, enabling it to meet growing demand for elective and emergency surgery across Western Sydney and beyond. The facility also includes cold shell operating theatres for future expansion as the population increases.