1) On this day, Niamh and I were scheduled for a hospital visit to the Children's Hospital of Soochow University. So we walked to the campus together, to be greeted by Dr. Teng - our host for this visit. She hired a taxi (via Didi) to the hospital, which we reached in about half an hour. As per the other hospital visits, we were greeted by some pharmacists and doctors, who gave us a comprehensive tour of the hospital.
2) First, we were given a quick tour of the pharmacy and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) departments, before getting a chance to "scrub in" to enter the drug handling room. There, we had the opportunity to observe highly regulated medicine i.e. chemotherapy drugs etc. being synthesised and packaged for consumption. The practice of something called "PIVAS" intrigues me - it stands for Pharmacy Intravenous Mixture.
3) Essentially, in hospitals, the majority of the reconstitution of injectable drugs are carried out right before the administration to the patient by the nursing staff. The risks and errors associated with this are numerous. The standardisation and centralisation of these preparations by the hospital pharmacy, so-called "PIVAS", makes it possible to reduce these various risks and errors. In China, the first PIVAS was established in Shanghai Jing'an Center Hospital, and now 30% of tertiary referral hospitals own PIVAS.
4) All of that was in the outpatient department... now we would be shown into the inpatient department. Simply put, we were taken to the wards where families were watching over their hospitalised children. I found out that this hospital specialises in treating blood cancers i.e. leukemias, hence explaining the large number of patients who come from various provinces far and abroad. We cycled through ER, neurology, hematology, and cardiology ICU in quick succession, meeting so many children with varying degrees of illness. For me, it was not easy looking at a seven-day-old newborn, hands restrained to the sides of the cot (for their own safety, lest they tug at the numerous lines and intubations strapped to their chest and mouth), and face covered with an oxygen hood, desperately clutching at life due to a birth defect (ventral septal defect - VSD). We saw loads of other children too, some with ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), others with a subdural haemorrhage etc...
5) After all that, we returned to the staff room, where we had a short rest sipping mild tea. Then we were invited downstairs to an elaborate dining room, where we had an unexpected surprise - lunch! This was the last thing we were expecting, as in both the previous hospital visits we had always gone back to the campus before having lunch. Also, the fact that the lunch was served in such an elaborate fashion - complete with box set, herbal soup, cucumber, and yogurt for dessert - really touched our hearts! It almost felt as though everyone here treated us extra nice because they were used to working with children and their families. Just a theory of course ^^
6) After the marvellous lunch (in which we were bombarded with questions about our research here in China as well as our studies in Ireland), it was time to head back. Dr. Teng booked us a taxi, and dropped us right at the Pharmaceutical Sciences building. It has been back to experiments since, and nothing else worth noting other than the usual daily routine. That has been a gist of my day today (Thursday), and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks very much for visiting, and have a nice weekend ahead. Cheers! :D
Dr. Teng Xinchen (third from right), along with all the doctors and pharmacists who very kindly accompanied us for the duration of our visit :))
All scrubbed in and nowhere to go...
(just joking we had just came back from PIVAS :)
The very impressive outpatient department of the hospital
(Behind the front building is the inpatient department)
Entrance to the hospital
Beautiful artistic drawing spotted, at the PIVAS room
They make chemotherapy drugs inside this chamber...
"Look at me!" Niamh's body language would seem to indicate.
"Kindly avert your gaze,' would be mine. XD
A busy environment at the children's wards, with doctors, pharmacists, and nurses shuffling about checking on their young patients, as their parents comfort their children
ENAS Cancer Center for Children
The Haematology Department
I could hardly believe this was meant for us
(to be fair, I could hardly believe when we were told that lunch was waiting for us downstairs...
I expected cafeteria food... XD)
Group pic with everyone! Bon appetit :D
Everything looks sooooooooo good! :DD
Quick snap before we had to board the taxi back...
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