Northern Beaches Hospital to install critical care cameras for children

Units will be placed in the ED, paediatric ward, and special care nursery.

Northern Beaches Hospital in New South Wales is installing over-the-bed critical care cameras to provide real-time images of seriously ill babies and children, according to the Australian government.

Specialist camera units will be placed in the emergency department, paediatric ward, and special care nursery.

The move follows the Clinical Excellence Commission’s independent inquiry into the hospital’s emergency department, which identified the technology’s absence as a serious concern.

The system will allow clinicians to contact the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service to connect with specialists from the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network when a child is critically ill or in an emergency.

“The cameras are controlled at the NETS end so they can zoom in and look closely at the patient, or at the monitoring equipment to watch real-time changes as they occur,” said Health Minister Ryan Park.

Park added that the cameras are undergoing testing and are expected to be operational within weeks.