Children's Services
Community Children's Nurses and Palliative Care
Our service works to enable children with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions to be cared for at home.
About our service
The service works together with GPs, paediatricians, hospitals, health visitors, school nurses, social workers and voluntary agencies to enable children to be cared for at home. It can help children and their families manage:
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life-limiting or life threatening conditions
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oxygen dependent babies
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chronic illness
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childhood cancers
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nasogastric tube feeding
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end-of-life and palliative care
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bereavement support
How does the team work?
The team delivers 24/7 on-call telephone advice for all children and famlies referred to the service and visiting service for children and young people in the last stages of their life.
The team visit children with a specialised nursing need, registered with a Birmingham GP, aged 0 – 19 years in their homes or other community setting.
Every effort will be made to book visits in advance at a time convenient to all parties. Occasionally delays occur and if the delay is expected to be over 30 minutes families are notified.
The team aims to:
- holistically assess the needs of children and families and, together with parents, produce a joint plan of care;
- reduce or prevent hospital attendances or admissions by providing a skilled paediatric nursing service;
- enable and empower parents to look after their child in the most suitable environment with our support;
- act as family advocates and network on behalf of children and families;
- provide planned opportunistic health promotion;
- deliver an excellent standard of care to children and young people whil on the team's caseloads;
- work in partnership with families to ensure a co-ordinated approach to family-centred care throughout their child's life.
When do the team work?
The team operate 7 days a week from 8.30 am – 7.00 pm. Outside these hours, there is a telephone advice service overnight from 4.30 pm – 8.30 pm and visiting support for children and young people in the last stages of life.
Who can refer to the team?
Anyone can make a referral. The service mainly receives referrals from healthcare professionals however the service would accept referrals from family members. When a referral is accepted the service will inform the child’s consultant paediatrician. Some children may have needs that the service cannot meet, in which case they will be referred to the most appropriate service. The team take part in the education of student nurses and doctors and occasionally they may be present during visits.