Press release -
Working in partnership with Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
“We are aware of NHS England’s (NHSE) review of the future of paediatric congenital heart disease services, concluded in November 2017, and the potential impact this may have on The Sick Children’s Trust’s ‘Homes from Home’ in Newcastle upon Tyne.
"The Sick Children’s Trust provides free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation for families with children being treated at both Freeman Hospital and the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. We support on average 1,100 families a year, providing the vital emotional and practical support they need while their child undergoes specialist treatment in hospital.
"We work in partnership with The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to ensure families with critically ill children are able to stay close to their child’s hospital bedside, and are able to participate in their ongoing treatment and recovery.
"Scott House, based at Freeman Hospital, supports families with children receiving treatment for paediatric congenital heart disease, including many who are undergoing heart transplants. Freeman Hospital is one of only two paediatric heart transplant centres in the UK, the other being Great Ormond Street Hospital in London where the charity has two other ‘Homes from Home’.
"We have been in discussion with the Trust about the implications of NHSE’s recommendations, as Newcastle Hospitals’ Board of Directors begins its phased programme to ensure the Trust achieves all the standards determined by NHSE.
"For the time being, we continue to support families at both Scott House at Freeman Hospital, and at Crawford House, our ‘Home from Home’ based at The Great North Children’s Hospital, with demand for our accommodation increasing.“
Jane Featherstone, Chief Executive of The Sick Children’s Trust
Topics
- Health, Health Care, Pharmaceuticals
The Sick Children’s Trust was founded in 1982 by two paediatric specialists Dr Jon Pritchard and Professor James Malpas. They believed that having parents on hand during hospital treatment benefited a child's recovery.
Today we have ten ‘Homes from Home’ at major hospitals around the country where families can stay free of charge.
Every year we help around 4,000 families, but there is a growing demand for our ‘Homes from Home’ as children must increasingly travel long distances to get the specialist treatment they need.
We are working to a future where every family with a seriously ill child in hospital will be able to stay together, just minutes from their child’s bed during their treatment.
