Cardiac Intensive Care

With 21 intensive care beds and nearly 800 annual admissions, our CICU is a national and international referral centre for complex cardiac care.  

Core Cardiology Services 

We treat children from birth through to adolescence, when they are transitioned to the Grown-Up Congenital Heart Unit (GUCH). Our cardiac team performs over 600 surgeries annually, the majority of which are on cardio-pulmonary bypass. National Congenital Heart Disease Audit (NCHDA) and are part of the One Heart CHD Network, supporting cardiac care for children across North London and the East of England.  

Highly Specialised Services

We also manage five nationally commissioned highly specialised services: 

• Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for neonatal and paediatric respiratory failure and congenital or acquired heart disease. We receive up to 90 referrals annually, with around 40-50 patients supported on ECMO. The ECMO programme submits data to the international ELSO registry and our outcomes are benchmarked. Children supported on ECMO receive multi-disciplinary follow up at 1 and 2 years post treatment to ensure monitoring of development and quality of life.
• Bridging to transplant with mechanical circulatory support. The VAD programme supports children with cardiac failure with the use of durable VADs such as the Berlin Heart and HeartMate-3. Data is submitted to NHS Blood and Transplant and Euro-PaediMACS for national and international benchmarking.
• Heart, Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Programme. One of Europe’s largest paediatric cardiothoracic transplant programmes, performing 20-25 transplants annually.
• Pulmonary Hypertension Service. We have a national programme offering specialised care for children with pulmonary hypertension.
• Tracheal and thoracic service. We provide a quaternary-level service for managing complex airway pathology.  

CICU Quality and Safety

Our unit is committed to delivering safe, effective and compassionate care to all children. Our outcomes are benchmarked against national and international standards, including PICANet, NCHDA, NHSBT, ELSO and Euro-PaediMACS.  

Innovational and research are central to our mission, driving improvements in current and future care for children with cardiac disease.  

A Day in CICU

Our service is supported by the following governance structures including: 

• Twice daily consultant-led ward rounds
• Weekly multidisciplinary meetings for long-stay patients
• Twice-weekly Joint Cardiac Conferences (JCC)
• Weekly clinical governance meetings and monthly risk action group meetings
• Monthly CICU business meetings focused on PICANet, GIRFT meetings and activity data across cardiac surgery, ECMO and specialised services

You and Your Child

We understand that having a child in intensive care is incredibly challenging. You are a key part of your child’s journey, and you are encouraged to support your child’s care and recovery at every stage. You will be provided with regular clinical updates by the bedside teams and can also ask for further information at any time.  

Our Family Liaison Nurses (FLNs) provide emotional support, guidance and education for families throughout their journey, including: 

• Helping families understand their child’s condition and treatment plan
• Advocacy and communication between families and the wider care team
• Emotional and psychosocial support during hospitalisation
• Bereavement clinics for families who have experienced loss 

We would like all families to feel informed, supported and empowered.