Your child's medical team

A Paediatric Oncologist is a specialist doctor who treats children with cancer. They are specialists in planning and giving cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Haematologists are doctors who specialise in blood disorders, including leukaemia which is cancer of the blood. . They look after patients and also examine blood samples in the laboratory.

A Clinical Oncologist, also known as a Radiotherapist, is a doctor who specialises in treating cancer with radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other drug treatments.

A Surgeon performs operations. They may take a biopsy (remove a piece of tissue from the tumour for examination under a microscope) and/or remove the whole tumour. They also put in central lines and implantable ports.

A Paediatric Anaesthetist is a doctor who will anaesthetise and monitor your child throughout surgery or a procedure requiring an anaesthetic. Anaesthetics are medications that numb an area of the body or help a person fall and stay asleep for surgical procedures. Anaesthetists can also help with pain management.

A Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) is a specialist nurse based at Bristol Children's Hospital and BHOC with a knowledge of childhood cancer, they often act as your child’s key worker; coordinating your child’s care and liaising with the local hospitals, which also have specialist or community nurses who work with children who have cancer.

A Paediatric Oncology Outreach Nurse (POON) is a specialist community nurse who works with children who have cancer, visiting them in their homes, at school, or wherever your child's care needs to be delivered.

A Paediatric Research Nurse is a children’s nurse who specialises in research. There are lots of clinical trials and studies that children and young people can take part in across the region; some patients may start a trial in Bristol Royal Hospital for Children or Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre and then continue at their local hospital. 
The research nurses might explain studies, answer questions, receive consent, manage and undertake the research procedures (giving a medication or taking a blood sample for example) and collect data.

On the ward, your child is looked after by a team of nurses. The sister or ward manager has overall responsibility for the ward, and the nurses will care for them. They might also be looked after by student nurses or healthcare assistants, who work under the guidance of the qualified nurse. All nurses giving chemotherapy will have specialist cancer knowledge.

A Pharmacist is responsible for preparing and dispensing medicines. They’re based in the hospital pharmacy and may also visit the ward.

A Radiographer takes x-rays and gives radiotherapy treatment.

A Radiologist interprets x-rays and scans to help diagnose the cancer and plan your child’s treatment.

A Pathologist analyses tissues samples (for example, biopsies) under the microscope to diagnose illness or see how an illness is being affected by treatment.

A Physiotherapist provides advice and treatment for improving physical problems. Their role is to support young people who have problems with function or mobility due to their diagnosis or side effects of their treatment.

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children has two physiotherapists working within the Oncology Department, mainly based on Starlight ward, Ocean unit and Apollo ward. They are in contact with other physiotherapists in the community and local hospitals to support children closer to home.

They make sessions as fun as possible; this can sometimes mean joint working with play or music therapy. We also work closely with our orthotics and orthopaedic department.

Being active is really important whilst going through treatment. Where possible physiotherapists encourage young people to remain active in hospital and when they get home. 

An Occupational Therapist helps your child with their everyday activities and the physical and psychological effects of cancer, such as anxiety management and fatigue management

A child and adolescent psychologist provides emotional or psychological support. They can help patients and also support their family or carers.

A Specialist Paediatric Dietitian helps support the nutritional needs and growth of patients undergoing cancer treatment. They make sure that your child has the best food to keep them as healthy as possible during their treatment. If your child isn’t able to eat for a while, the dietitian can advise on other ways of giving them the nutrients they need.

The CCLG has a free booklet, Helping your child to eat well during cancer treatment, available to download from their website.

A Speech and Language Therapist can help with communication, feeding and swallowing difficulties.  Communication includes speech, language, voice and social communication.

A Play Specialist uses play activities to help patients cope while in hospital. Their main focus is on using play to help children and young people cope in an environment that can be quite scary. They use play to give children an outlet to work through their anxiety and stress. This can include using toys to walk children through the procedures they may need, like getting a blood test, a scan or an operation.

Play Specialists also support the families and siblings of patients. Part of their job is to give parents and carers advice on how to utilise play during what can be a stressful time, helping them to support their children to the best of their ability.

Videos

• The Play Team in Action: a video from outside our region which illustrates the role of Play Specialists.

• Radiotherapy Play Specialist: how the Play Team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust take the clinical masks that children wear when undergoing radiotherapy treatment and transform them into superheroes. 

• My son is anxious about his blood test - preparing in the play hospital - Aaron and his mum visit the play specialist in the Teddy Hospital in Glasgow and talk about numbing cream, cold spray and distraction. The play specialist then helps to distract him during his blood test.

A Music Therapist provides an emotional support tool for patients during their stay at the hospital. It might help them to express themselves, feel heard or less isolated, process their feelings, or help them to relax.

A Social Worker can help with any practical, emotional and financial problems you may have. Young Lives vs Cancer is a charity who provide social workers who specifically support children and young people with cancer and their families.

Some children’s hospitals have a school that provides education for children when they’re in hospital. The hospital school will contact your child’s school, and together they will plan an education programme for your child.