What is a Children's Hospice?
 

When a child is given a diagnosis which offers no hope, or when treatment is abandoned or treatment has failed and the focus has transferred from active to *palliative care families often feel very isolated and alone.

Many of the conditions from which the children suffer cause degeneration slowly over a number of years, placing an enormous strain on family life. Often a child will need constant care through the day and night, and whilst families willingly invest love, energy and attention, life becomes completely governed by the relentless timetable of nursing and medical needs.

A Children’s hospice is a place for living. The child’s medical care becomes the responsibility of the care team, along with all the mundane and draining everyday tasks. The family can let go of the constant anxiety of nursing their ill child and instead enjoy spending quality time in a bright and comfortable environment, with their children, or indeed get away from it all secure in the knowledge that they are leaving their child in very safe hands. Children’s hospices are full of warmth, fun, games and activities, with space for the children and parents to relax.

Children’s hospice services offer a rich array of specialist children’s palliative care, and the type of support given will depend on the specific needs of the child, parents and siblings. The children and their families are at the centre of everything that children’s hospice services do. Above and beyond everything else they are positive places that focus on helping a life-limited child live his or her life to the full.

Children’s hospice services are committed to working with families from all faiths, cultures and ethnic backgrounds, and fully respect the importance of religious customs and cultural needs that are essential to the daily lives of each family.

Children’s hospice services are provided free to families and children. Each service is a charity which relies on donations and fundraising by the general public, organisations and companies to continue providing this care. On average children’s hospice services receive only 5% of their annual costs from the government.

*Palliative care (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than providing a cure. The goal is to prevent and relieve suffering and to improve quality of life for people facing serious, complex illness. Non-hospice palliative care is not dependent on prognosis and is offered in conjunction with curative and all other appropriate forms of medical treatment. It should not be confused with hospice care which delivers palliative care to those at the end of life. In the UK this distinction is not operative; hospices and non hospice based palliative care teams both provide care to those with life limiting illness at any stage of their disease  [Back to top]