In May 2026 plans were announced to repurpose Alder Hey’s existing 4C general paediatrics medical ward, to instead expand same day emergency decisions and same day treatment. We ask the Trust to reconsider this decision, for the safety of over 450,000 children they treat every year.

Ward 4C is a 22 bed general ward managing a variety of inpatients who don’t require specialist intervention. Many patients of the ward are children with serious and complex health conditions who can become seriously unwell with viral infections and contagious illnesses, and require generalist nursing care for their safety. Such children often visit Ward 4C multiple times per year, an example could be a child with cancer who is severely affected by a virus and cannot manage at home. Same day treatment is of course not suitable for such cases like it would be for a healthy child, and it would also not be sensible for them to be admitted to a specialist ward (such as oncology) for generalist nursing care whilst they are contagious and poorly. 

The ward’s repurposing leaves an ill-considered gap for the clinical management of children who require inpatient treatment due to a viral or infectious cause. Ward 4C containing such cases has historically protected other specialist and long term wards, such as neurology and cardiology, from coming into contact with such infections and therefore kept the most seriously ill children safe during their most challenging times. 

Additionally Ward 4C is the only ward in Alder Hey equipped and trained to manage children with mental health issues. 

There are a multitude of concerns for both the children who require generalist inpatient care,  and the long term patients of specialist wards who require the upmost protection from additional obstacles such as viral infections throughout their treatment. And of course the removal of 22 inpatient beds in the busiest children’s hospital in the UK. 

It is clear that these changes have been made without consulting the people on the ground who understand the grave and precarious situation this presents.

We demand Alder Hey reconsider.