Transporting the paediatric intensive care patient: an insight into CATS

The Children's Acute Transport Service (CATS) is a specialist paediatric intensive care service operating in the North Thames and East Anglian areas of the UK. It is a collaborative service commissioned and funded by NHS England and hosted by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, in collaboration with The Royal Brompton Hospital and St Mary's Hospital. The transportation element has been provided by specialist crews from St John Ambulance since 2003 (NHS England, 2013).

CATS was the first specialist, independent transport service of its kind in the UK and aims to make paediatric intensive care rapidly available to critically ill children across approximately 50 hospitals. Set up in 2001, it is one of the largest paediatric retrieval services in Europe and has been referenced as a model for the implementation of specialist transport and retrieval services subsequently in the English NHS and beyond (Scottish Government, 2011). The service is a holistic service and not all contact will result in transportation or even deployment of a team of specialist clinicians. The team is available 24/7 for the provision of telephone consultation, inter-hospital liaison and, where necessary, rapid activation to the bedside of a sick child and fully supported retrieval transportation to and between hospital intensive care facilities.